NY: Mayor Bloomberg wants to privatize NYC parking
Mayor Bloomberg Wednesday said the city will privatize the operation of its parking meters if the price is right. Signing a deal with a private contractor would in all likelihood wipe out many of the jobs of workers who collect money from meters – but the mayor said that should not be the city’s main concern. “The city government and the city taxpayers are not here to run a full-employment agency,” Bloomberg said…But a 75-year deal in Chicago to sell future parking meter revenue to a private vendor has come under criticism, as drivers have seen sharp increases in rates, the Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier this month. The private company is also demanding millions of dollars in revenue it claims it lost when Chicago took meters out of service for street repairs and other activities. “What they did in Chicago or other cities has nothing to do with what we’re about to do,” Bloomberg said. New York Daily News

IN: Toll Road, 6 years later
Mitch Daniels’ controversial plan to privatize the Indiana Toll Road through a long-term lease, both advocates and opponents can find evidence to support the views they expressed in 2006. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

IN: Hoosier lottery takes steps toward privatization
The state will take steps to hire a private company to help run the Hoosier Lottery in an effort to make more money from the games — a step already taken by Illinois and under consideration in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states as well. The Indiana State Lottery Commission voted 3-0 Wednesday to seek information from companies that would be willing to “perform a broad scope of services” for the lottery. Then in September, the state plans to accept actual bids. The Hoosier Lottery generated $791 million in revenue and $188 million in profits during Fiscal Year 2011. ï There are 177 full-time employees working for the Hoosier Lottery. The Courier-Journal

CA: Did the UC just take a major step toward privatization?
Shortly after Gov. Jerry Brown presented his latest budget proposals, which he says will slash $8.3 billion from government spending to close a $15.7 billion deficit, UC faculty delivered a bold response: “UC President Mark Yudof and Governor Jerry Brown are working out a deal behind closed doors that will loosen the most important ties between the university and the state. Although they will both praise the deal by saying that it “stabilizes” funding while granting greater “flexibility,” its essence is that each will let the other off the hook: UC will mute complaints that it does not get enough money from the state and the state will stop holding UC accountable for the money it still gets. The likely result is that UC will dump a larger number of eligible Californians onto the CSU and Community Colleges, which will in turn pass on their overflow to for-profit schools, where students take on inordinate amounts of debt with a very high likelihood of default.” DavisPatch

NH: School voucher system approved
After several rounds of editing over the course of the past year, two bills creating a business tax credit and educational voucher system passed by veto-proof margins in the state House and Senate yesterday. The program would allow businesses to get a credit worth up to 85 percent of their contributions to an approved scholarship organization. It allows up to $3.4 million in business tax credits in the first year, and up to $5.1 million in credits the second year…Gov. John Lynch “has very serious concerns about the impact on revenues and concerns about using public money to fund private schools,” said his spokesman Colin Manning. The governor has not decided whether he will sign the legislation, veto it, or let it become law without his signature. Both houses approved the bill by margins that would override a veto. Concord Monitor

NH: Privatizing prisons would be a mistake – opinion
Before Granite State politicians take this bait, they should study a 2012 report by the American Friends Service Committee, which found Arizona overpaid $10 million for private prison services that were deemed shoddy at best between 2008 and 2010. Among the many questions I have are how can a private for-profit compete with New Hampshire’s frugal prison system without grossly undercutting basic safety and efficiencies? What incentives does a private company have regarding rehabilitation and timely discharge of inmates? Certainly, it is good to periodically debate the effectiveness of public-private endeavors, but the feedback from other states that have already tried privatizing prisons is not very promising. Nashua Telegraph

MD: In Frederick, groups want to be heard in public
County commissioners won’t budge on budget as opposition groups speak out…If cutting government means cutting jobs, then the county commissioners do have something to crow about. Since January 2011, they have laid off 171 county employees; the county work force sits at 2,128. Some of the jobs lost have been “privatized,” or contracted to private vendors. Commissioners do not know if their actions have saved the county money, because the net results have not yet been “quantified,” according to County Manager Dave Dunn…Privatization “drip by drip” is how Dale terms the county’s actions. Aside from the layoffs, all of the privatization efforts and the small cuts in the budget have not added up to much, she said. Maryland Gazette

PA: Opponents exhale as state drops plan to privatize prison nurses
Gov Corbett announced last summer he would look into privatizing prison health care as a way to cut costs, and similar privatization plans have been floated by past administrations. But Fleck, whose district includes two state prisons, said he’s not convinced privatizing nursing care in prisons isn’t cheaper than having nurses paid and trained by the state.“The turnover rate is incredible,” said Fleck, referring to privately-employed nurses working in prisons.  “The money leaves the area because most of the private, contracting firms are not domiciled in Pennsylvania. WITF

PA: Hostile witness – opinion
The fiscal crisis facing our public schools is being exploited by a movement to privatize public education, break unions and subject students to high-stakes test-prep regimes. But it is a crisis nonetheless — one that requires long-term solutions, immediate band-aids and, critically, a substantial commitment from Philly’s largest stakeholders. Philadelphia City Paper

IL: Chicago plans 60 more charter schools in 5 years
Chicago Public Schools plans to create 60 more charter schools over five years, which would increase the share of privately run charters to about a quarter of all schools in the district. The plan for charter growth, part of a larger proposal for 100 new schools over the same five years, is laid out in an application seeking $20 million for charter schools from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Chicago Tribune

IL: Nurses defy Chicago mayor, rallying for Robin Hood tax
Chicago teachers are threatening to strike over Emanuel’s agenda to close schools, privatize, and force concessions on the union. Labor Notes

MI: Commentary: Follow the money in Detroit consent agreement
Follow the money. It’s good advice in politics. In the case of Detroit’s fiscal crisis the money all flows in the same direction — from the 99 percent to the 1 percent. The consent agreement engineered by the state as a “remedy” to Detroit’s crisis achieves, without an emergency manager, the goal for which EMs were invented: Protecting banks and bondholders from loss. Take a look at Section 18 of the Emergency Manager Law. It requires that the fix for a local government’s finances include “payment in full of the scheduled debt service requirements on all bonds, notes, and municipal securities of the local government.” That means the Wall Street bankers lose nothing — while Detroit’s workers and residents pay more every day. The Detroit News

CA: Company wants to tap Mojave’s public lands for Southland water
‎If the plan succeeds, it will turn ancient desert groundwater, a public resource, into a fountain of private profit, blazing a new — and some warn ominous — path in the state…”It’s taking a public resource that originates on public land, privatizing it and selling it back to the public,” said Seth Shteir of the National Parks Conservation Assn., one of a dozen environmental groups challenging the project. “This water is going to Orange County lawns and swimming pools. The desert is being asked to shoulder the burden.” Los Angeles Times

IL: Chicago’s Daley, a year later— No thanks for the memories
Consider, in no particular order…News that the dreaded privatization of parking meters in 2008 was worse than we thought: Chicago Parking Meters LLC, which has been cheerfully jacking up rates since buying 75-year rights to meter revenue for $1.15 billion, is billing the city $14 million for the offense of taking meters out of service for repairs and other street closings, and pursuing an additional $13.5 million claim related to parking for the disabled. Headlines announcing that Daley, who quickly burned through most of that $1.15 billion parking-meter payout in an effort to conceal a structural deficit in city finances, was hired by Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, the law firm that — wait for it! — billed the city $663,000 for helping negotiate the parking-meter deal. News that under a little-known provision of Daley’s 2006 deal that privatized four Grant Park-area parking garages, the city may owe Chicago Loop Parking LLC some $200 million for allowingStandard Parking Corp. to open a competing lot inside the forbidden zone designed to protect the investors who paid $563 million for a 99-year lease on the city garages. Chicago Tribune

PA: Commentary: Will public education die in Philly?
The Philadelphia plan is the latest manifestation of the idea that the best way to educate kids is to hand them over to private entrepreneurs. It is au courant and wrong. The drive for privatization is driven by multiple ideologies. DianeRavitch

PA: Move to privatize Pa. prison nursing services fails
Critics of a plan by Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections to outsource the work of its nurses to private companies are breathing a sigh of relief. Pennsylvania’s state prisons already contract with private companies for certain medical, psychiatric, and pharmaceutical services. But the state’s biggest health care workers union is rejoicing over news that nurses won’t be added to that list. NewsWorks

PA: Residents voice nearly unanimous plea not to privatize nursing home
About 230 people attended the forum…Without making a recommendation, the report focused on three changes that would enable the county to save money on the facility: converting it to a nonprofit 501c3, leasing it to a private operator, or selling it. Unionville Times

MN: Toll roads bill stalled in Minnesota House
A plan to create public-private partnerships in finishing major road construction projects stalled in the Minnesota House this session. WJON News

VT: State board tables district independent school application
The matter before the board was whether to approve an independent school. Commissioner of Education Armando Vilaseca said the application is all the district should consider, but the board agreed it needs to consider the bigger issue of replacing a public school with an independent school. Board member William Mathis, a former longtime superintendent in the state, disagreed that the decision is as simple as approving an isolated application. “The purpose and intent all along was to privatize a public school, pure and simple,” Mathis said. “I think we need to look at the question of, is privatization of public schools a path we want to go down? I suggest that is a very, very important question and a very difficult one and one which I’m not prepared to support today.”  Bennington Banner

FL: Court moves prison privatization oral arguments
The First District Court of Appeal has moved back by two weeks oral arguments in the state’s appeal of a prison privatization ruling. The state is appealing a ruling by Circuit Judge Jakie Fulford that struck down an privatization plan approved by the Legislature after the the Florida Police Benevolent Association sued to block the initiative. Fulford said lawmakers improperly folded the privatization plan into the fine print of the budget. NorthEscambia.com

KY: Lawmakers briefed on UK dorm project
‎The University of Kentucky is moving forward with its plans to privatize the dorms on campus. WTVQ

MS: Gautier council rejects privatization move
On a 4-2 vote the City Council decided to stop advertising for proposals to privatize the city’s public works department at their meeting Tuesday in City Hall. Mississippi Press

CO: CSU chancellor finalist to face privatization challenge
How can the nation’s land-grant universities, founded on the ideas of accessibility and affordability, sidestep privatization as state and federal funding runs dry? The Coloradoan

TX: County official nixes idea of outsourcing tax collections
The possibility of consolidating Cherokee County tax collections with the appraisal district was apparently shot down Monday when Tax Assessor/Collector Linda Little said she would not go along with the proposal…But Little said one reason she opposed the proposal was there were no guarantee any of the estimated $85,750 savings would be passed along to residents by lowering property taxes a half-cent per $100 of a property’s appraised value. Daily Progress

Outsourcing national bison range to tribe
The US Fish & Wildlife Service has unveiled its third attempt at a pact for a Montana tribe to assume operational control over the National Bison Range, considered the crown jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System. YubaNet

NY: NYC pondering privatizing parking meters
NYC is reportedly looking at different models, specifically ones that would allow the city to continue to control the rates at the thousands of metered parking spaces in the city (as of 2010 there were 31,725 muni-meters in town and 50,150 single space meters). Plus, we aren’t looking to close a budget gap with a lump payment, as Chicago was when it made its deal with the devil.  Gothamist

IL: Chicago privatizing teacher evaluations?
The most controversial teacher evaluation system in Illinois history is moving forward at lightning speed in what appears to be a secret privatization agreement between Brizard’s administration and a controversial Ohio corporation that specializes in public relations work for the controversial “value added” approach to teacher evaluations….Teachers are going to be required to submit what should be confidential CPS information to a private corporation which has not been publicly identified until now. Democratic Underground

MI: Commentary: Don’t buy the push to privatize Michigan’s prisons
What does it say about us as a society that the largest growing expense of state and local governments today is corrections systems? In the Michigan Legislature the drumbeat for privatization has reached a fevered pitch during the past year. Under the auspices of cost savings, an agenda has been set into motion that does nothing to improve the public good, but works wonders for the profit margins of Republican corporate campaign funders.  Detroit Free Press

CA: Costa Mesa continues outsourcing efforts
The Costa Mesa City Council will consider Tuesday whether to outsource five city services, more than a year since the wheels were first set in motion amid furious protests from city workers and local activists. Daily Post

America’s helium privatization fiasco
It sounds funny, but the growing helium crisis in the United States is only partially a laughing matter. The gas is needed for not only party balloons, but also an array of industrial purposes and if we run out it’s a problem. Brad Plumer has the story, but it’s really just a special case of the all-too-common problem of privatization gone wrong…In 1996 when Congress decided that the United States did not need a giant strategic helium reserve, Chris Cox, R.-Calif., and his colleagues passed a Helium Privatization Act that ordered the helium supplies to be sold down at a formula-driven price rather than auctioned. That price has turned out to be way below the market rate. That’s encouraging overconsumption of helium, discouraging new helium production, and all-in-all creating a big helium shortage. It’s a mess. But this kind of thing is a problem you see over and over again. Slate

A radical idea to transform what kids learn in school
Exxon-Mobil is airing education-reform television ads. In the one I’ve seen most often, implicit and explicit messages are simple and clear: (a) We live in a dangerous, technologically complex world. (b) Our lives, liberties, and happiness hinge on our ability to cope with that world. (c) Coping requires mastery of math. (d) On standardized math tests, America ranks 25th in the world. (e) Be ashamed and afraid. (f) Get behind corporate education reform efforts. Washington Post

Public employees may choose between raises and job protections
State employees in a number of states are expecting to soon see their first pay bumps in years. But for workers in Arizona and Virginia, those bonuses or salary increases may come with conditions. Governing

Private sector edges deeper in space
But the new space companies are relying on taxpayer dollars to finance their research and development. The Obama administration requested $830 million for next year to finance the development of passenger-carrying spacecraft. Proponents argue that the investments will jump-start a vibrant new business that dwarfs NASA; Congress has so far remained skeptical. A report by the House committee in charge of NASA’s budget said the program ran the “risk of repeating the government’s experience from last year’s bankruptcy of the solar energy firm Solyndra.” The New York Times

Congressman defends call to dismantle GSA
Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) caused a stir when he advocated abolishing the General Services Administration. But he managed to unite a wide array of GSA defenders in the process. FCW

Should states be in the liquor business?
Several states that tightly control liquor sales are debating whether to turn them over to the private sector. Stateline

FL: How a city of 65,000, gets by on 9 employees
Weston, Fla., an affluent suburb 25 miles northwest of Miami, has one of the most unusual charters of any city: it specifically discourages the city from hiring employees…Since its inception, the city has used contractors to fulfill virtually every city function. Today, the city of 65,000 has a budget of $121 million — and just nine of its own employees. “I see no reason why we’d ever have to increase the number of employees,” says Mayor Eric Hersh, who’s led the city for over 10 years..Jonas Prager, an economic professor at NYU who has studied the city, says Weston is “a curious example, rather than an example that can be easily emulated.” It would be politically challenging — and in some cases legally difficult as well — for a long-standing city to replace public workers on a large-scale basis with contract employees. Governing

FL: Scott’s chief of staff resigns amid scrutiny of state contracts
Gov. Rick Scott’s chief of staff Steve MacNamara resigned Saturday afternoon, ending what has been a tumultuous week of news reports about his steering no-bid contracts to friends and interfering in staffing and decisions throughout state government…In the Senate, MacNamara steered a $5.5 million contract with Spider Data Systems for a software platform to improve public access to state budgets. The developer of the patented system, Anna Mattson, was a partner of lobbyist Jim Eaton, also a close friend of MacNamara’s. He also handed over a project to shift the Senate’s computer system from mainframe computers to another longtime acquaintance, Abe Uccello, at a cost of $380,000. Governing

FL: Debate rages: Do charter students perform better than others?
Florida’s education leaders have been fanning out across the state to celebrate National Charter School Week, visiting schools and touting the benefits of these independently run campuses…But some critics question the state’s seemingly unconditional support for these schools that run on taxpayer money but are free from some state education rules. They note charters earned a disproportionate share of F’s on Florida’s 2011 school report card and accounted for most of the 10 worst elementary schools on Gov. Rick Scott’s new school rankings. They also cite the nearly 200 that have closed since Florida’s first charters opened in 1996.  A University of Central Florida professor was so bothered by the state’s April report — released under a headline that said charter students “excel across the board” — that he did his own analysis of charter-school performance. He took into account the percentage of poor children enrolled, which he said the state largely ignored. “Does Governor Scott, the Republicans, the DOE have a charter-school bias? I think most people would say yes,” said Stanley Smith, a UCF finance professor. “This almost seems like an infomercial for the charters.” Children from low-income families typically lag behind those from wealthier homes on standardized tests. The percentage of poor kids in charters is 45 percent compared with 55 percent at traditional public schools. Orlando Sentinel

AZ: Gov sides with traffic camera companies
Gov. Jan BrewerGovernor Jan Brewer (R) on Wednesday vetoed a measure that would have brought Arizona’s definition of an intersection into compliance with federal law…The prospect of losing hundreds of thousands in revenue upset the top two players in the red light camera industry, American Traffic Solutions and Redflex Traffic Systems of Australia which both have offices in the Phoenix area. It also upset the city of Phoenix, which dispatched Walter Olsen, the officer in charge of the photo ticketing program, to complain about the proposal to lawmakers.  Brewer also has significant connections with the photo enforcement industry. In 2008, she put Jay Heiler in charge of hiring personnel to fill administration jobs during the transition. At the time, Heiler was a lobbyist for Redflex. TheNewspaper

AZ: Phoenix eases process for building permits
DiCiccio wanted to privatize the process further, but he was overruled by other council members, and he agreed to compromise on the question. “I’m glad we don’t have to look at privatizing inspections,” Planning Director Debra Stark said. Arizona Republic

PA: The end of public education in Philadelphia – opinion
If the School Reform Commission and Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen have their way, we may witness the end of public education in Philadelphia. A five-year plan proposed…calls for the overhaul of virtually every element of the system — from finances to academics to central management. These drastic changes suggest to many that the district is intent on expediting the privatization of its schools, despite its promises to stay the traditional route and invest in neighborhoods and communities. This plan mandates: The closing of 64 neighborhood schools in the next five years. The movement of thousands of students from traditional neighborhood schools to charter schools with 40 percent of all Philadelphia students attending charters by 2017. Philadelphia Inquirer

NH: A proposal to privatize NH’s prisons raises concerns
A legislative committee is simultaneously drafting a plan for privatization, an idea Gov. John Lynch has supported looking into as a possible option to meet the state’s future correctional needs…The head-scratcher in this reasoning is that for prison companies to make money it’s in their best interests for more people to be locked up for longer periods of time. And the lower companies keep operational costs such as security, employee salaries and rehabilitative programs, the higher their profit margins. Opponents claim private management raises the risk of prison riots and jailbreaks. Others still say that when incarceration rates were climbing steadily several years ago, private prison companies created a prison building boom by swooping into western states promising tax revenue and jobs — only to skip out when nationwide anti-recidivism efforts quelled the rising number of prisoners. Thirty states have private prisons. The Keene Sentinel

IL: Privatizing work comp considered
The State of Illinois may hand over its much-maligned workers’ compensation system to a private company. Alton Daily News

Privatizing education
I recently learned that teacher credentialing in some states is being turned over to Pearson, a large educational publisher.  In cahoots with Stanford, prospective teachers will, for a fee, take a 40 page test, which they will submit to Pearson, along with two 20 minute video tapes of themselves teaching a lesson.  About 5-7 states have already signed on to this program for certification of their teachers. How have teachers been credentialed?  The predominant method has been for the accredited university from which they earned their teaching degree..This is a thinly veiled move to increase the financial burden of earning a teaching credential while siphoning a heretofore nonexistant income stream out of the pockets of aspiring teachers and channeling it toward a corporation that is already sucking $millions or $billions from our public educational systems. It perhaps additionally encourages gaining entry to teaching via alternative routes like Teach For America. ThomHartman

Private prison firm fights more disclosure on abuse
The debate over private prisons spilled into Corrections Corporation of America’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, with critics urging greater transparency by the Nashville-based prison owner and operator. The company rebuffed the parallel efforts, one led by the American Civil Liberties Union and the other by an activist shareholder. Stockholders rejected a proposal that would have required CCA to file twice-annual reports on the number of rapes and sexual assaults occurring within its facilities, and show steps the company was taking to combat the problem. The proposal was filed by Alex Friedmann, a former prisoner who now leads the Private Corrections Institute, an advocacy group that opposes prison privatization. The company fought the proposal, asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to kill it. The company argued it already planned to make such information available annually and that Friedmann’s proposal was part of a personal vendetta. The SEC declined to strike the resolution, so the company included a lengthy rebuttal in proxy materials urging shareholders to vote against it…Also, the ACLU delivered a letter to CCA asking Damon Hininger, the company’s chief executive officer, to a public debate on the merits of privatizing prisons. The Tennessean

PA: Philly community mobilizes against school privatization
…The agenda tonight: crafting a response to what some here see as the “Shock Doctrine” being applied to Philadelphia public education. The reference is basically to an either or ultimatum proposition from the city: accept property tax hikes – which Mayor Michael Nutter says would raise upwards of $92 million, but would disproportionately affect low income residents – or let schools close.,, The SRC’s plan, in essence, is to “decentralize” the school district and allow for-profit interests to turn public schools into charters.  “There is no proof that privatization is better,” adds Amanda, an SDS organizer. “All the articles which have come out on this issue since this plan was announced point out this fact.” OpenSalon

PA: State Sen.: Don’t privatize Pennsylvania’s lottery
Privatizing the lottery system might not be the best solution for increasing benefits to senior citizens, State Sen. Fontana says…When it comes to the idea of privatizing the Pennsylvania Lottery, the theory of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” comes to mind. Our state’s lottery has a long history of being able to provide for our senior citizens. In fact, Todd Rucci, the Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director, has described the Pennsylvania Lottery as one of the most efficient operations in the nation. The previous Administration has already taken initiatives to make the system more effective and efficient which has proven successful with record sales. In addition, there are no guarantees that privatizing the state’s lottery would make it more profitable in the long run, therefore, privatizing is not always the best solution for enhancing benefits and programs for our growing senior citizen population. Patch.com

TX: The Trinity River Toll Road is now an (almost) unstoppable force
The Trinity River toll road doesn’t have to happen. But it can happen. And stopping it will take money. Those are the three big practicalities looming over the debate about building a big highway through what was supposed to be our downtown urban park. Dallas Observer

FL: Palm Beach County told to cut 900 jobs
Lifeguards, secretaries, computer specialists, golf course employees, security guards, plumbers and mechanics are among those who could have their jobs sacrificed under the proposal from the accounting firm Gerstle, Rosen & Goldenberg, which goes before the County Commission Tuesday. But a barrage of pink slips is far from a certainty because the County Commission has balked at widespread layoffs and questioned whether outsourcing could deliver the same services residents expect from parks to transportation. Orlando Sentinel

LA: Reader comments: Jindal signs private school tuition tax credit
Starve the program. Declare it broken. Then say privatization is the only fix. Let me ask you something. If privatization produces better outcomes and is cheaper, why is healthcare so expensive? That’s a private market. The Advertiser

IL: Lawmakers consider privatizing workers’ comp system
The State of Illinois may hand over its much-maligned workers’ compensation system to a private company. A bill sponsored by House Speaker Mike Madigan would privatize the state’s workers’ compensation system. WJBC News 

IL: Dedicated teachers
‎But increasingly we see the media, politicians and backers of privatization bad mouth and demonize teachers. We’re led to believe “bad teachers” are re responsible for everything that ails public education, as if poverty, racism and being 49th in the country for school funding don’t matter.  It’s a well-orchestrated campaign to distract the public from the real challenges in our schools. Don’t worry how many kids are in a class, how old the textbooks are or whether the school has art, music or a library. Ignore the faulty heating and cooling systems, the leaky roofs and the playground marred with potholes.  Chicago Tribune

OH: Opinion: Should Ohio State look at privatizing parking? No
Under the agreement offered to the investors, OSU would sign away total revenues of up to $5.3 billion for a small fraction of their value. At the same time, the private operator would assume only about $13 million per year in operating expenses, while OSU keeps responsibility for the campus bus system and continuing mortgage-debt payments on existing parking structures. Related annual expenses of about $16 million are presently paid from the parking revenue that, in the proposed deal, would go to the operator. In addition, OSU would lose an annual $1.7 million “ internal tax” on parking income that presently supports its academic core…The agreement asks for OSU to lobby against laws that could hurt the revenue stream of the operator. It lists “adverse action” events reducing the operator’s revenue that would trigger compensation payments by the university, at the expense of OSU and Ohio taxpayers. Avoiding these situations will require constant consultation between OSU and the operator, generating an additional administrative layer to monitor parking operations and diverting valuable dollars from OSU’s academic core activities. The legal minefields created by monetization agreements, and examples of disastrous consequences for sellers elsewhere, are legion. Columbus Dispatch

IL: From Chicago’s 63rd Street: Where’s the public interest in public-private partnerships?
The problem is that the public-private “partnerships,” as Emanuel outlines them, are tilted toward the private side. They let corporate interests drive public investment. Projects that fail to align with the interests of private funders go begging. 63rd Street shows how big that hole is. What company is going to invest in building affordable housing and livable communities here? These honorable causes stand to be big losers in the era of the public-private partnership…Realistically, City Halls in Chicago and nationwide must invest in depopulated districts like 63rd Street because no one else will. The community that 63rd Street runs through was home to 81,000 residents in the 1960s. Today, it has less than a third of that, just 26,000. This is prime real estate, an easy commute from the Loop. If it and similar neighborhoods aren’t repopulated, and soon, there won’t be much of a city left. Rustwire.com

NC: Public-private N.C. Zoo partnership proceeds
The House Select Committee on Public-Private Partnerships has prepared a legislative proposal concerning this new venture which would turn over the zoo’s management to the N.C. Zoological Society, possibly as early as Jan. 1, 2013. The state would continue to retain ownership of zoo property…He noted that all the zoo’s state employees, including himself, will be affected by the management change…Jones said “all but a few” would be rehired. He also said a “main concern” in the transition is the impact the change will have on employees who have worked several years at the zoo. About a third, he noted, have more than 18 years state service; additionally about 20 employees won’t be fully compensated with severance wages to cover the additional years they’ll have to wait to retire…A concern expressed by some legislators was assurance that students would still be allowed free admittance. Courier Tribune

NY: Steering Murdoch in scandal, Klein put school goals aside
..Joel I. Klein was hired by Mr. Murdoch to lead his company’s aggressive push into the education market. But just over six months into his tenure, the news broke that the company’s News of the World tabloid in Britain had hacked into the phone of a murdered 13-year-old, Milly Dowler, and suddenly, Mr. Klein became Mr. Murdoch’s legal compass in the ensuing British firestorm. Mr. Klein, who declined to comment for this article, has slowly returned his attention to parts of his education portfolio, but prospects for success may have been damaged by the investigation. In 2010, News Corporation paid $360 million for a 90 percent stake in Wireless Generation, a company based in Brooklyn that specializes in education software, data systems and assessment tools to help teachers analyze student performance and customize lessons. Last year, New York State rejected a $27 million contract with Wireless Generation, citing “the significant ongoing investigations and continuing revelations with respect to News Corporation.”..While Mr. Klein still worked for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Klein became close friends. They talked frequently about the state of public schools and Mr. Klein was lured to News Corporation with the promise that he could use the company’s deep coffers to put in place his vision of revolutionizing K-12 education. Mr. Murdoch has said he would be “thrilled” if education were to account for 10 percent of News Corporation’s $34 billion in annual revenue in the next five years. New York Times

CA: Could California rest areas soon be commercialized?
..Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, has sponsored a bill that would authorize the California Department of Transportation to sign deals with private business to operate rest areas. The state would keep ownership of all property…Opponents say the bill would hurt roadside communities and small businesses along affected roadways. OOIDA officials say that all avenues must be pursued on behalf of truckers and other travelers who need access to rest areas and parking. Land Line

TX: Trinity River Toll Road debate is back
The North Texas Tollway Authority is holding public hearings on the impact of the Trinity Parkway, a 9 mile toll road that would run along the Trinity River from US 175 to SH 183…Opponents of a toll road inside the levees claim it would reduce flood protection, ruin proposed parks and that the traffic benefits are not worth the price of more than $1 billion. NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

VT: Privatization plan could bring jail to Hinsdale
Bids from Corrections Corporation of America, MTC Corrections, GEO Group Inc., and the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center are currently under review by committees within the New Hampshire Legislature, but Hinsdale Town Administrator Jill Collins said CCA is the only one that has met with town officials about the possibility of opening a private facility…It would hold 1,500 to 2,000 inmates and cost $100 to $120 million to build, with a possible expansion in the future. Brattleboro Reformer

OH: Official: Public can fight school privatization
To stop privatization of public education, citizens need to become active. “Go to hearings, send 10 million emails to the governor and the legislators,” William L. Phillis, executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, told about 200 people at Boardman High School Monday…Chief topics were charter schools and vouchers, both of which take money from public school districts, presenters said. Nearly $780 million in state funding went to charter schools in fiscal year 2012 including $21 million from Youngstown, $696,000 from Austintown and $683,000 from Boardman school districts. Youngstown Vindicator

CA: Santa Monica College students fight privatization
Community colleges across California are facing the wrath of privatization efforts by reactionary forces, most notably for-profit colleges and their surrogates, the corporate media and coin-operated politicians.  Both democrats and republicans have been and are continuing to use shock doctrine crisis management to privatize the community college campuses…Both corporate liberals and reactionaries have decided the best way to deal with austerity crisis and budget cuts are to capitulate to the forces of capital, not to mount an offensive.  They have drafted and engineered another “access hierarchy” which, if ever successful, promises to form a class-based tollbooth for students who wish to attend community colleges.  What this means is a two-tiered class system of fees for a two-tiered class society.  Those students who can pay more at the ‘tollbooth’ will do so and those who cannot will be denied access to classes. Daily Censored

NC: Ruling leaves toll road in doubt
The planned $725 million Monroe Connector-Bypass – the Charlotte region’s first modern toll road – is in doubt after a federal appeals court ruled Thursday in favor of environmental groups that had sued to stop construction. Charlotte Observer

LA: Privatizing Louisiana prisons
The pitch went out in January 2012: a letter to 48 state governments, including that of Louisiana. It was signed by Harley Lappin, former director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Lappin retired from that job in March 2011, one month after he was arrested in Maryland on charges of drunk driving. In June of that year, he took a job with a $300,000-a-year salary, plus bonuses, as chief corrections officer for Nashville-based prison operator Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)….Six months after CCA hired Lappin, it offered to spend $250 million to privatize publicly owned prisons across the country. “I am writing to brief you in advance about a new program — the CCA Corrections Investment Initiative — that we plan to begin discussing with you and other key decision makers in the coming weeks,” the letter said. “In short, CCA is earmarking $250 million for purchasing and managing government-owned corrections facilities.” Two months later, Louisiana had a new prison privatization bill — with the full support of Gov. Bobby Jindal. BestofNewOrleans.com

MI: Mayor calls for cutbacks, assistance to keep Detroit afloat
Earlier this year, city officials agreed to an 11-month trial to privatize bus operations and save the city money. At the same time, late night service has been suspended on several routes and drivers have been put out of work. These changes are part of Bing’s efforts to forestall fiscal takeover by the state of Michigan, but the mayor acknowledges public service cutbacks are not enough to save the city. “There is so much that needs to be done. There is no doubt in my mind that we in this administration can’t do it by ourselves,” Bing said. “We’ve got to have help. Whether it’s at the state level or the federal level. I don’t think we can fix the problem here in the Detroit without some intervention, meaning resources. Not all the time money, but money will surely help.” PRI

New schemes hold the public hostage to private finance
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been around for decades in various forms and their track record is replete with delays, cost overruns and prolonged legal battles. What’s more, the beneficiaries of these investment mechanisms are the same rapacious Morgan Stanleys and Goldman Sachs that gave us the mortgage-backed securities scandal and the ensuing recession. Using the economic malaise they created as cause, they have ratcheted up their advocacy of PPPs as a means of helping cash-starved public entities finance capital-intensive projects. The upshot is that they are holding us hostage all over again. They are using infrastructure built over decades with public monies as collateral to extract profit off of the back of taxpayers. A cursory look at some past projects of this nature demonstrates that PPPs are often inefficient, overly costly and inherently unjust. AlterNet

Privatization of the Commons
For centuries the Open Field System was the dominant economic agriculture system of England (and most other places in Europe). Resources were shared in the community and the community regulated its uses….So what brought this system to an end? Contrary to what some would have you believe, it didn’t die on its own…it was knifed in the back. And the hundreds of thousands that depended on this system had their livelihoods destroyed…leaving a huge swath of the population homeless, penniless, and without means to feed their families. Democratic Underground

Taxpayers paying for roads — twice: Sen Jeff Bingaman
…Today Indiana has 157 fewer miles of highway the public is responsible for operating. One might assume its share of federal highway maintenance dollars would have been reduced to reflect the change. Not so. This year, Indiana received nearly $900 million in highway maintenance funds — the same amount it would have received had it never made the deal with the Indiana Toll Road Concession Co. And if the funding formulas remain unchanged, it’s possible that Indiana could lease all 1,200 miles of its interstate highways to a private company and still receive nearly $900 million each year from the highway fund. Does this make sense? I don’t think so…The Senate approved a highway bill in March that contains an amendment I wrote to correct the funding formulas. Under the revised version, states would receive highway funding without including public roads that have been essentially “sold off.” That would mean states such as Ohio, which is considering privatizing its 60-year-old, 240-mile turnpike, would lose federal funding it no longer merits. House and Senate negotiators are working to finalize a highway bill, and I hope they include my amendment. Washington Post

FOX News: Public works projects are great! (When they’re in a state governed by Chris Christie)
A certain cable news channel struck a surprisingly positive tone on a major public works project in the New York metro area — the Bayonne Bridge, which authorities want to revamp to allow larger cargo ships into New York Harbor. The project has proponents in government, business, and now…..FOX News.  The new bridge just happens to span from the state where rising Republican star Gov. Chris Christie is chief executive, New Jersey, to the Staten Island district represented by Congressman Michael Grimm, a prominent GOP representative of New York City.Fox Host Martha MacCallum on Friday extolled the virtues of spending the one billion taxpayer dollars the project would cost — namely the 2,700 people it would employ “predominantly iron workers and construction workers.” Fox reporter David Lee Miller then went into a string of facts that would even make any stimulus-supporting member of the Obama Administration proud. TPM

Spending by the major charter management organizations
We find that in New York City, KIPP, Achievement First and Uncommon Schools charter schools spend substantially more ($2,000 to $4,300 per pupil) than similar district schools. Given that the average spending per pupil was around $12,000 to $14,000 citywide, a nearly $4,000 difference in spending amounts to an increase of some 30%. In Ohio, charters across the board spend less than district schools in the same city. And in Texas, some charter chains such as KIPP spend substantially more per pupil than district schools in the same city and serving similar populations, around 30 to 50% more in some cities (and at the middle school level) based on state reported current expenditures, and 50 to 100% more based on IRS filings. Even in New York where we have the highest degree of confidence in the match between our IRS data and Annual Financial Report Data, we remain unconvinced that we are accounting fully for all charter school expenditures. NEPC

IL: Chicago parking meter company wants more money, mayor balks
The private investors who run Chicago’s parking meters are doing better than expected, and now they’re demanding an additional $14 million they say they’re owed under obscure provisions of the wildly unpopular 2008 deal that privatized metered parking and caused rates to soar, records show. Disputing the claim, City Hall says Chicago Parking Meters LLC is seeking a “windfall to which it is not entitled.” The $14 million bill stems from parking revenues the meter company says it lost when the city took meters out of service last year because of street repairs, festivals and other city-sponsored activities, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago Sun-Times

IL: Editorial: Lesson of crummy meter deal? Go slow.
Nothing has unified Chicagoans in recent years like the collective outrage over the privatization of the city’s parking meters. It was rammed through the City Council in 2008 with little scrutiny or debate, and rates have skyrocketed and collection hours have expanded dramatically. Then, to pour salt on the wound, the city spent nearly all the $1.15 billion it was paid upfront for the meters.  And that was before we even got to the fine print. Thanks to reporting by Chicago Sun-Times reporters Chris Fusco and Dan Mihalopoulos, the parking meter deal has officially become the gift that keeps on giving…Last month, we urged Emanuel not to rush through the Chicago Infrastructure Trust, a new vehicle to seek private investors to finance public works projects. Ignoring calls for more study and fine-tuning, he barrelled ahead and the Trust passed. We lost that one, but the need for vigilance has only grown stronger. …Aldermen, ready your magnifying glasses, your best reading lamp and, most importantly, your sharpest and most tenacious lawyers. Read the fine print. Chicago Sun Times

IL: Prompt Ambulance takes over East Chicago’s EMS
…When Mayor Anthony Copeland privatized EMS duties by executive order last month, officials with Highland-based Prompt Ambulance Services promised jobs for all of the city’s paramedics and emergency medical technicians. But when the firm took over Saturday morning, only seven of the 34 full- and part-time city medics had traded in their blue Fire Department shirts for Prompt’s red polos — and three of those already were working for Prompt. “It meant a huge pay cut,” said Corinne Saikin, a five-year department veteran who was the sole EMT to accept a position with Prompt. “As of now, I’m basically making a dollar more than the minimum wage.”..Working his last shift as a Fire Department paramedic Friday night, Jonathan Roberts said he felt “dramatically let down by the city.” NWTimes

LA: Caddo Parrish looks to outsource alternative education
…The board currently is reviewing a proposal by Superintendent Gerald Dawkins to contract with Ombudsman Educational Services, a division of Educational Services of America, the nation’s leading provider of K-12 alternative and special education schools and programs. If approved, Caddo would be the first district in Louisiana to bring in the company…Currently the district spends approximately $8 million annually on its alternative schools. Ombudsman’s proposal says the company can meet Caddo’s needs for just over $3 million,  Shreveport Times

WA: Privatized liquor sales: what will happen?
…In approving Initiative 1183 in November, voters put an end to Washington State Liquor Control Board control over liquor sales that had existed since the end of Prohibition in the 1930s. Beginning in June, assuming the law survives a legal challenge now before the state Supreme Court, any store 10,000 square feet or larger in size can sell booze like any other product. The mandate is poised to drench Clark County in a sea of 69 new booze-selling applicants that include grocery, pharmacy and big-box variety stores armed to compete for sales with location, advertising and price. New York Daily News

TX: Citizen activists target red light camera expenditures
League City, Texas is violating state law governing the use of proceeds from a red light camera program, according to a local activist who filed an official complaint yesterday. Under state law, a municipality may only use its photo ticketing profit to pay for “traffic safety programs.” League City appears to be using the revenue to create a slush fund for the local police department. “They went on a spending spree that would make a drunken sailor blush,” Byron Schirmbeck, director of saferbaytown.com told TheNewspaper. “How can you have a program that’s meant to punish lawbreakers when you’re violating the law yourself?” League City’s camera vendor, Redflex Traffic Systems, issued over $5 million worth of tickets. After the state government and the Australian company took their share, $1.3 million remained in the municipality’s photo enforcement war chest. They spent less than half that amount on “traffic system improvements. The Newspaper.com

PA: Who’s killing Philly public schools?
…The plan is bold — after all, closing just eight schools this year prompted an uproar. It’s also terrifying, says former Philadelphia School District superintendent David Hornbeck, considering the poor academic records and corruption at many charter schools. “What is being proposed, in effect, is ‘charterizing’ the whole district, when there is a lot of evidence that at best [charters] have no positive effect on student achievement, and there is a lot of evidence they cost more,” he tells City Paper. And “charters in many instances, in Philadelphia and elsewhere, have served private interests — sometimes of public officials.” Philadelphia City Paper

PA: Businessmen arraigned for stealing $800K in privatization deal
Two Lackawanna County businessmen were arraigned Thursday in Northampton County Court on felony charges they bilked a Lehigh Valley township of more than $800,000 in a streetlight privatization project…The pair is accused of stealing $832,460 from Bethlehem Twp., while doing little of the work the company said it would do…Mr. McLaine and Mr. Kearns were company principals of Municipal Energy Managers Inc.,, a Lackawanna County firm. MEM claimed it could reduce municipalities’ electric rates by having town’s buy back their utility poles; MEM would maintain the lights rather than PPL.
The company is also at odds with Scranton, claiming the city owns it $657,000. The city has refused to pay it partly in light of the criminal charges. The Times-Tribune

PA: Hundreds oppose sale of county-owned nursing home
“When we privatize, something has to give,” said Dr. Richard Stiles, an emergency room physician at Chester County Hospital whose mother, too, lives at Pocopson. “Invariably, that will be the quality of care” that patients there now receive, he said, telling the commissioners that his experience is that private facilities in the county do not provide what Pocopson does.  Their comments, and the comments of others, drew thunderous applause from those who attended the meeting, perhaps the largest public meeting in recent memory for the county commissioners, and certainly the largest held in their new administrative building.  The Mercury

AL: Senate OKs charter schools bill
Senate Republicans pushed through legislation Wednesday that would allow school districts in the state’s largest cities to create charter schools to replace failing schools, while allowing other areas flexibility in addressing their needs…The GOP made charter schools a top priority in the current session, although the version the Senate passed 23-12 included a variety of changes and limits charter schools to Montgomery, Mobile, Birmingham and Huntsville. The number of charters also would be capped at 20 statewide.  Charter schools have been a controversial issue, but vocal opposition was minimal during the relatively brief debate Wednesday evening. Montgomery Advertiser

NY: Privatizing Nassau County’s sewer system is a disaster waiting to happen
Nassau County executives should heed the wise words of the New York State Comptroller’s office who referred to such privatization deals as ‘budget gimmickry.’ Furthermore, United Water’s claim that it will increase system efficiency is groundless. Studies indicate that private water service providers are no more efficient than public ones, but they are a lot less accountable to the public. “The sewer system in Nassau County needs to remain in public control. Privatizing this essential asset will not solve anyone’s financial troubles, except perhaps, United Water’s.” NorthcentralPa.com

CT: Privatization an issue in Conn. education bill
The prospect of greater privatization of Connecticut schools has emerged as a hurdle in closed-door negotiations over Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposals to overhaul public education. Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr. told the Associated Press this week that Malloy’s proposal to give the state’s education commissioner the discretion to allow private companies to run certain low-performing schools “continues to be one of the many ongoing issues” being discussed in the closed-door talks, even though language to that effect was stripped from the governor’s original bill last month. Williams said he has serious concerns about the prospect of state money being spent to “enrich private vendors” instead of benefiting students. “It’s a critical discussion that’s going on across the country: How do we define public education?” he said. “Is public education truly public? Is it run and accountable at the local level with input from parents in the community, or is it turned over to private companies where, as time goes by, accountability and local input disappears?” Lawmakers and the governor are facing a May 9 deadline, when the regular legislative session is scheduled to adjourn. AP via CanadianBusiness.com

AZ: Arizona’s budget giveaway to the private prison industry
Yesterday, the state legislature approved a compromise budget they negotiated with the Governor. The budget agreement would: Fund 500 state-run maximum security prison beds we don’t need. Fund 1,000 private prison beds we don’t need. Pay for these prison beds by stealing $50 million from a mortgage settlement that was intended to provide relief for victims of the foreclosure crisis. Remove the requirement to study the quality and cost of public vs. private prisons. In his defense of her “don’t bother me with the facts” decision, spokesman Matt Benson said the Governor believes the cost comparison and quality review is, “of little utility to us.”  Our Governor has just publicly stated that she has no use for facts if the facts stand in the way of her corporate backers’ agenda. There could be no clearer proof that the legislature is putting the interests of their private prison pals ahead of kids, victims of the housing crisis, and the 99%.  Tucson Citizen

LA: Grass-roots organization assembles ed reform protest
Even though Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed sweeping education reforms, parents, teachers and community members say they will not be silenced from expressing their concerns. The various Caddo Parish residents gathered in front of the Caddo Parish Courthouse on Wednesday after to protest “the privatizing of education” under the voucher and charter school bill approved this legislative session and to announce the formation of a new grass-roots education group tasked with starting a new conversation for real education reforms…Wednesday’s protest brought together personalities not normally seen as bedfellows from school board members to teachers’ organization members and parents agreeing the answer to public education is not found in the new laws. “If we really care about public education, we should address the real issue, and that is socioeconomic,” said Jackie Lansdale, president of Red River United.  Shreveport Times

Private water industry defends ALEC membership
An influential trade association representing companies that provide water services to one in four Americans says it will continue its membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group that has worked with the energy industry to create loophole-filled water protections and opposes federal oversight of fracking. The National Association of Water Companies represents the far-reaching privatized water utility industry that serves “nearly 73 million people every day,” according to the association’s website. NAWC represents more than 150 private water companies, each of whom pay an annual fee to the association. Its board of directors is drawn from the leadership of some of the country’s largest water companies. Huffington Post

FL: Privatizing no sure thing Augusta leaders find
Industry giant ADP says it will turn around Augusta’s HR. Department for two million dollars a year, but city leaders are not ready to jump into this privatization deal…Commissioners have been discussing the ADP proposal for months but voted again Tuesday to send it back to committee for further study. Last summer city leaders made the decision to turn the bus system over to a private company; Mobility, but city leaders are preparing to undo that decision by giving Mobility its ninety day notice to end the contact. “There have been things that have taken place since they have had the contract that do not mirror what we expected from them so we have to move in a different direction,” says Commissioner Corey Johnson…And even those who strongly supported privatizing the bus system now want to move in another direction. “Are the constituents getting the bus service they deserve I think in some cases no is there areas of improvement yes I think that’s for hearty discussion,” says Commissioner Joe Jackson. Commissioner Corey Johnson says based on the bus system it’s time to hit the brakes on privatizing city departments like HR. “Going with the cheapest and the lowest is not the best I think it’s evident now and they see a mistake was made,” says Johnson. WJBF

KS:  Committee votes to stop use of state funds for legislators to participate in ALEC
The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved a budget provision that would prohibit state funds from being used for legislators to participate in several organizations, including the American Legislative Exchange Council. State Rep. Pete DeGraaf, R-Mulvane, proposed the ban on state funds for legislators who are members of the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Council of State Governments. But state Rep. Doug Gatewood, D-Columbus, said ALEC should be part of that ban too. DeGraaf said he had no problem including ALEC, adding that he has attended ALEC meetings and his expenses have been paid through “scholarships” and not state funds. The Appropriations Committee approved adding the ban to its proposed budget bill that now goes to the full House. Since ALEC scholarships are funded by corporate interests, the proposed ban may have little impact on most ALEC members, although legislators said later that some state funds have been expended on registration for ALEC meetings but didn’t know exactly how much. LJWorld.com

NJ: Watchdog group wants AG to investigate ALEC
In a letter sent to Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa today, the nonprofit Common Cause accuses ALEC, a conservative bill-writing organization, of tax fraud. It says that although ALEC is registered as a charity in New Jersey, it is “primarily a lobbying organization and may therefore be in violation of its tax-exempt status.” “New Jerseyans shouldn’t have to subsidize ALEC’s agenda to limit voting rights, undermine our public schools, spread Stand Your Ground gun laws, and weaken laws protecting our environment,” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause who is a former Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania. The letter comes at a time when New Jersey lawmakers and lobbying watchdogs are debating whether ALEC fits the description of a typical lobbyist. Edgar said Common Cause has “compelling evidence” proving that it does, citing 4,000 pages of internal ALEC documents leaked by a whistleblower…ALEC is a group of state lawmakers and private companies that writes model legislation to advance fiscally conservative goals like loosening environmental rules and privatizing government services. Critics say ALEC’s activities amount to lobbying because the council is financed chiefly by the private companies, and because its model bills tend to boost those companies’ bottom lines. Lawmakers can introduce bills based on ALEC models, or identical to them, without disclosing the source…The Star-Ledger last month found that several pieces of legislation and executive-branch policies pushed by the Christie administration closely resembled ALEC models. The Star-Ledger

Vilsack v. Vilsack: Playing chicken
…There may be a serious political split brewing in the home of Iowa’s former governor — now Secretary of Agriculture Tom — and former first lady — now congressional candidate Christie — over the agency’s plan to privatize the country’s poultry inspection program. Tom Vilsack reportedly claimed budget cuts required replacing 800 food safety inspectors with company employees and Agriculture officials say the move won’t have adverse health effects on consumer of the fowl. (Seriously.) But Christie Vilsack, who’s running against Rep. Steve King (R), saw demonstrators from advocacy group Food & Water Watch and the American Federation of Government Employees in front of her office in Ames, Iowa. She issued a statement in response saying “ . . .we should not privatize jobs” and that she was concerned about “allowing companies to inspect themselves.” But she didn’t say, for now, whether she specifically opposed the rule. (And she didn’t sink to the fox and henhouse cliche.) “I won’t, now that I’ve made that statement, I will not ever talk to my husband about it again,” she told the Des Moines Register. “Or, I should say, he will not talk to me, ” she said. “He made it clear that we will not be talking about this again. But he certainly educated me on the department’s position.” Meanwhile, substantial national controversy over the rule — even outside the Vilsack residence — has caused the department to extend the public comment period to May 26.  Washington Post

Senators call for contractor cuts to match DoD workforce cuts
Twenty-six Democratic senators are pressing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to cap the number of contract employees it relies on if the Defense Department decides to cap its civilian workforce at 2010 levels. Federal Times

US military-industrial giant KBR in bidding to privatize British police forces
Giant US military-industrial company Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) is in the running to win a slice of a controversial £1.5 billion (US$2.43 billion) contract to transform the West Midlands and Surrey police forces in Britain. Hailed as the largest police privatization scheme in the UK, it has been suggested the private companies who win the contract will be tasked to perform several police functions — including patrols, detention and criminal investigation. KBR, a former subsidiary of the Halliburton group, has attracted its share of criticism over the large contracts it won with the US government during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The corporation also helped to build the Guantanamo Bay detention facility…With police planning to hold a protest march next week against the push to privatize the force, KBR’s involvement in the bidding process will possibly add fuel to the fire. Fox