The Privatization of Public Services, State by State
Donald Cohen, founder and executive director of In the Public Interest, a national resource center on privatization and responsible contracting, sends us this.
It seems there’s no public service or piece of property that private companies are not eyeing as potential revenue streams. While funding anti-government think tanks like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), companies like Corrections Corporation of America, Waste Management, Maximus, Intuit, Laidlaw, Northrup Grumman, Koch Companies, Macquarie Capital Advisers, Pinnacle West, and UnitedHealthcare are hoping to use government as their candy store.
They want to take over our roads, bridges, parking lots, water systems, college dorms, and prisons. And they want to deliver public services like transit systems, school cafeterias, trash and recycling pick up, mental health services and many others. The following is a quick scan of just some of the proposals.
Water
The Emergency manager of Flint, Mich., is considering selling off its water and sewer systems to the highest bidder. The systems are currently generating revenues for the city.
Long Island’s Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano’s proposal is proposing to privatize the county’s sewage treatment system. Mangano also announced the privatization of Long Island Bus company to Veolia Transportation.
The Texas Lower Colorado River Authority is selling 18 retail water and wastewater systems in the Hill Country and in its southeast service area to [Canada-based] Corix Infrastructure.
Schools
School districts across the country are planning to contract out custodial, clerical, cafeteria and bus Read the rest of this entry »
Housing Bust Caused Deficits, Not Public-Sector Contracts, Study Finds
When housing prices began to take a dive, revenues to state and local governments plummeted. Housing construction shuddered to a halt, creating ranks of unemployed workers who began drawing unemployment benefits rather than paying local taxes on their previously middle-class salaries. The businesses of suppliers and service-providers to contractors were forced into downturn. And many states continued to cut taxes, causing a perfect storm of budget woes for the states.
Yet who got the blame for this economic morass? Public-sector employees and their unions, who have been made the scapegoats for a budget crisis that had nothing to do with them—convenient targets for the right-wing forces that seek an end to unionization in all sectors.
“The Wrong Target: Public Sector Unions and State Budget Deficits,” a new study released today by the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California,Berkeley, makes clear the real causes of the state- and local-government budget crisis. Using data compiled from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, authors Sylvia Allegretto, Ken Jacobs and Laurel Lucia show that when the impact of the housing bust is added into tables that purport to link public-sector labor contracts with state-level budget crises, public workers’ compensation becomes statistically insignificant. (Study is available here in PDF format.)
Republican Shutdown Costs Minnesota $23 Million a Week; Faith Leaders Urge Action
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Minnesota Republican legislators’ incredibly stubborn and increasingly costly refusal to impose a small tax on the state’s wealthiest 2 percent has Minnesota in its 12th day of a government shutdown. Not only have most of the state’s vital services closed their doors but most of the state’s 38,000 public employees are out of work.
The cost of the shutdown is rising. Tom Stinson, state economist at the Minnesota Management and Budget office, estimates that Republicans’ refusal to sit down and negotiate with Gov. Mark Dayton (D) is costing about $23 million a week. Says Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson:
It’s time for Minnesota Republicans to get back to work and compromise with Gov. Mark Dayton instead of protecting millionaires and billionaires.
If you are a Minnesotan, click here to sign a petition by the Minnesota AFL-CIO urging Republican lawmakers to return to negotiations over the budget.
Meanwhile, Workday Minnesota editor Barb Kucera reports that at a news conference on the steps of the Capitol in St. Paul today 50 pastors and religious leaders:
mixed quotes from Scripture with economic analysis, faith leaders called on lawmakers to end the state government shutdown and adopt a budget that addresses Minnesota’s racial disparities in jobs and health care.
Walker to Sign Budget at Tax Evader’s Business
This just in: Walker must have felt the heat—he canceled the bill signing at Badger Sheet Metal Works and will be signing it elsewhere.
When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) signs his budget bill, he will put pen to paper in a ceremony at a business owned by a convicted tax evader, reports Think Progress. The Wisconsin Budget Project says Walker’s budget includes $2.3 billion in tax cuts for corporation and the wealthy over the next 10 years.
The Sunday bill signing will take place at Badger Sheet Metal Works in Ashwaubenon, which is owned by Greg DeCaster. In 1995, DeCaster was convicted (USA v. DeCaster, Case #2:94cr00051) of multiple felony tax crimes and sentenced to two years in prison, according to Think Progress.
Just what will Walker’s budget do for Wisconsin? A lot for the wealthy and corporations but not much for seniors or low-income families, says the Wisconsin Budget Project.
All of the new tax cuts benefit corporations or wealthy Wisconsinites. However, two other changes in the budget bill will raise taxes for seniors and low-wage workers by $70 million over the next two years— by cutting the state Earned Income Tax Credit by $56.2 million and by ending indexing of the Homestead Tax Credit (i.e., ending inflation adjustments to the Homestead credit formula). That change will cost low-income Wisconsinites $13.6 million over the next two years, and that amount will grow steadily in the years ahead as inflation erodes the value of the credit.
New Jersey High Court Rejects Christie Education Cuts
Education cuts made last year by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) were so large that the state Supreme Court today ruled they violated the state’s constitutional requirement to provide a “thorough and efficient system of free public schools.”
The court’s ruling on Abbott v. Burke requires the state to allocate an additional $500 million to 31 lower-income districts in New Jersey in the coming fiscal year. Christie has indicated he will comply with the court order, but his attempts to balance the state budget on the backs of children and working families continue. On May 21, more than 35,000 working people protested Christie’s budget cuts at one of the largest-ever demonstrations at the state Capitol in Trenton.
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO said the additional funds will go to the state’s neediest students, an important step forward in promoting equal access to quality education in New Jersey.
Gov. Trashes Trailer Offer from Texas AFL-CIO, Prefers Mansion
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Years ago, when I moved into a three-bedroom trailer in Ohio, it felt like moving on up to me. But then again, I wasn’t coming from a nearly $10,000-a-month, five-bedroom, seven-bath mansion with pecan-wood floors, a gourmet kitchen, three dining rooms and a swimming pool for which taxpayers were footing the bill.
Maybe that’s why Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) ungraciously turned down the Texas AFL-CIO’s offer to solve his temporary housing problem–the governor’s mansion is undergoing renovation, hence the rental–and save the taxpayers nearly $120,000 a year. Every penny counts when the state is $11 billion in the hole and is slashing billions from schools, universities, public safety and other vital programs.
Yesterday, the Texas AFL-CIO offered Perry the use of a brand spanking new, 1,100 square foot, three-bedroom, two-bath mobile home with brand new appliances for just $1 a year. On top of that, it is located at the state federation’s downtown Austin offices, within walking distance to the Capitol, cutting down Perry’s big carbon boot print from the black limo entourage that chauffeurs him to work each day from his gated community in the West Austin hills. Read the rest of this entry »
AFL-CIO Unveils 2010 State Jobs Agenda
Last night in his State of the Union message, President Obama called on Congress to pass a jobs bill to help put millions of Americans back to work. But the U.S. Congress is not the only lawmaking body that can fuel job creation. State legislatures have important roles to play.
The AFL -CIO has developed a State Jobs Agenda that union and community allies and working family lawmakers can use as a guideline in developing legislation and policies to protect and create jobs, address budget issues and protect the safety net.
The agenda offers dozens of innovative and effective ways to develop job-centric laws and policy that put working families first.
Jobs Now: States and Cities Need Our Help
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During an economic crisis like the one we’re in now, the squeeze on state and local budgets is brutal. Even as the revenues that are coming in from citizens and businesses decline, residents’ demands for services and assistance increase.
The resulting strain can result in even greater unemployment as teachers, firefighters, police officers and other essential public workers get laid off. To balance their budgets, states often turn to tax hikes or service cuts—at a time when working people can least afford them.
The AFL-CIO’s five-point plan for job creation includes a call for aid to state and local governments because the situation in our states, cities, counties and towns is dire. This year alone, state and local governments are looking at a $178 billion budget shortfall.
Suit Seeks to Protect California In-Home Care Services
California home care workers are under threat from potential devastating budget cuts. This is a report from AFSCME on how these workers are fighting back.
United Domestic Workers/AFSCME (UDW/AFSCME) has gone to court, along with several other plaintiffs, to prevent more than 100,000 low-income seniors and the disabled from losing critical in-home care services.
The group filed the class-action lawsuit Oct. 1 in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, on behalf of in-home care recipients and caregivers. It seeks to block the state of California from imposing budget cuts that would “render tens of thousands” of individuals ineligible to participate in the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program.
Wal-Mart: Recession Profiteer
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Bank and insurance CEOs aren’t the only ones getting rewarded for horrendous behavior in this recession. There’s Wal-Mart, whom Newsweek now has anointed as “Our Corporate Savior.” (Hat tip to dakine01.)
“Wal-Mart recently announced that its same store sales in January were up 2.1 percent, which was more than forecast. With the company’s huge network of stores and ability to strong-arm suppliers, Wal-Mart offers shoppers good merchandise at prices which becomes more and more attractive as the downturn continues.”
The brutal truth is that Wal-Mart is profiting in the midst of misery because of policies that, like those of the financial services industry, fueled the nation’s economic disaster. While banks rolled up and peddled collateralized debt packages like cheap tuna wraps, Wal-Mart’s assault on America’s economy came from another angle–everyday low wages. By paying the vast majority of its workers little more than the minimum wage and offering health care plans most can’t afford, Wal-Mart shifted its corporate expenses to taxpayers.
