Florida Bill to Allow Secret Privatization of Prisons

By James L. Rosica, Associated Press

20 January 12

Senate committee, bucking a decades-long trend of open government in Florida, formally introduced two bills on Wednesday aimed at allowing the secret privatization of prisons.

But the measures also would make secret the outsourcing of other state agency functions, which has raised concerns from open government advocates.

The Senate rules committee introduced the first bill (PCB 7170), which essentially means that an agency would not have to report its privatization of a program or service until after the contract is signed.

Committee chair John Thrasher, a St. Augustine Republican, told a standing-room-only audience that the introduction of the bill and that of its companion (PCB 7172) means both will be assigned to other committees for "substantive consideration."

A staff analysis says the first bill "makes clear that the Legislature may direct privatization of agency function itself, without any agency request."

The bills' opponents, which include the First Amendment Foundation, have said the bills would keep the public in the dark about the costs of outsourcing any government service, not just prisons.

Supporters, including committee vice-chair JD Alexander, counter that the measures ultimately require any privatization deal to first offer a substantial savings to the state.

Thrasher said the bills were meant to address a South Florida prison-privatization plan stymied by a Tallahassee judge. Privatizing those prisons could save taxpayers up to $40 million a year, Alexander said.

The state tried to privatize about 30 state prison facilities and was sued by the Police Benevolent Association, the union that formerly represented corrections officers.

Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford later ruled that the state's plan is unconstitutional because it was passed as part of the annual budget and not as a separate law. Attorney General Pam Bondi is appealing Fulford's decision.

But when asked, the Lake Wales Republican said he couldn't explain the bills' secrecy provisions.

"I didn't draft the bill," Alexander said. "I haven't looked at all the language."

Brian Pitts, a lobbyist for a group called Justice-2-Jesus, told the committee both bills undermine "the transparency, accountability and due diligence of this body and citizens of this state."

Two Democrats on the panel - Gwen Margolis of Miami and Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale - also voiced their opposition.

"The language is pretty broad, sir," Margolis told Thrasher. "It's very disturbing."

Most people who spoke on the bills, however, focused on the impact that privatization has on state-employed corrections officers and other prison workers.

They're also smarting from last week's announcement that the state plans to close seven state prisons and four work camps, all of which employ nearly 1,300 people, because of a decreasing prison population.

"I'm here first of all as a wife and a mother," said Reshae Cherry, a corrections officer at Charlotte Correctional Institution in Punta Gorda.

She's looking forward to the birth of her second daughter, but still spends nights worrying whether privatization will cost her a job.

"My situation is not unique," she told the committee. "There are countless families who depend on the Department of Corrections ... I want to keep food on my table and I want to continue to serve the department because I am proud of what I do."

The bills, now referred to as SB 2036 and SB 2038, haven't yet been assigned to their next committee.