March 11, 2008

Headlines
1. Spain’s Cintra gets financing for Texas toll road
2. Waxman expands probe of security contractor Blackwater
3. Study: contractors escape ethics laws
4. Passage of W.Va. toll road bill could take toll on Eastern Panhandle
5. NH: Dover school board to decide on privatizing custodial staff
6. Texas: Panel warned not to sneak in school vouchers funds
7. Louisiana House panel OKs Jindal-backed private school tax break

News Summaries
1. Spain’s Cintra gets financing for Texas toll road
Spain’s Cintra on Monday said it had closed financing to build segments
5 and 6 of its SH-130 toll road between San Antonio and Austin, Texas
in the United States in which it will invest $1.36 billion. Reuters
2. Waxman expands probe of security contractor Blackwater
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A.
Waxman , D-Calif., asked federal regulators Monday to investigate
whether security contractor Blackwater Worldwide violated federal tax,
small business and labor laws. CQ Today
3. Study: contractors escape ethics laws
The military hires so many private contractors that it should consider
forcing them to disclose their financial interests so as to avoid any
conflicts of interest, according to a congressional audit. In a report
released March 11, the Government Accountability Office found that
contractors outnumber Defense Department employees in many offices and
perform such sensitive tasks as developing contract details and
advising award fees. Yet unlike federal employees, contractors are not
bound to most government ethics laws and regulations. Military.com
4. Passage of W.Va. toll road bill could take toll on Eastern Panhandle
Despite attempts by two Eastern Panhandle state senators to delay the
bill or put conditions on it, a controversial proposal that will allow
tolls on local highways like W.Va. 9, U.S. 340 and U.S. 522 passed
during the closing moments of the state legislative session in
Charleston, W.Va., over the weekend. The Herald-Mail
5. NH: Dover school board to decide on privatizing custodial staff
About 30 school custodial workers will find out if the school
department plans to privatize staff during a School Board meeting
tonight. The board is scheduled to vote on a bid for the
Massachusetts-based company UNICCO to take over all janitorial,
maintenance and grounds work for the district’s elementary schools and
middle school. Dover High School’s custodial work was privatized last
fall. Fosters.com
6. Texas: Panel warned not to sneak in school vouchers funds
Anti-voucher groups warned a state advisory board Monday not to do an
end run around the Texas Legislature by using tax money on private
school vouchers for high school dropouts. The Houston Chronicle
7. Louisiana House panel OKs Jindal-backed private school tax break
Parents of students attending private schools in Louisiana deserve a
tax credit to offset tuition bills, a House panel decided Monday. The News Star