Senators added additional demands Wednesday on the companies that win contracts to manage prisons in 18 Central and South Florida counties, as the outsourcing proposal had its second and final stop before an expected floor vote.
Members of the Senate Budget Committee, taking only a few public comments while addressing a packed room that included numerous correctional officers, voted 14-4 to support the bill that is projected to save the state at least $22 million to $45 million a year.
The senators did make a few changes to the bill, SB 2038, including moving the oversight of the privatized facilities to the Department of Management Services instead of the Department of Corrections and making it illegal for guards in private prisons with state contracts to go on strike.
Also, following a step taken by the House on Tuesday, two South Florida reception centers were removed from the proposal, reducing the number of correctional facilities that would be bid out to 24.
Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, was joined by three Democrats -- Sens. Nan Rich, D-Miami, Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, and Bill Montford, D-Apalachicola -- in opposing the bill.
To privatize public safety is dangerous to our state, Fasano said. This is a major policy change. Were going from a few private prisons to 18 counties.
Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, said the idea of private prisons isnt new. The state first outsourced a prison in 1995 and six more have since been added.
Former state Sen. Ron Silver, the attorney for Teamsters Local Union 2011, one of the public speakers given time to address the committee during the 70-minute meeting, urged the senators to take more time to deliberate.
We have a lot of people who want to testify, and I think you got to hear that, Silver said.
Committee Chairman Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, told those in attendance that since a pre-set time was made for the committee to vote, he would personally meet with individuals after the meeting.
Prior to the committee meeting, the Teamsters issued a news release that called for a cost analysis of the impacts to the local counties and municipalities of turning over the prisons to for-profit corporations, as well as the Department of Corrections' plan to close seven correctional facilities and four work camps by July 1.
According to an initial analysis conducted by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, these costs could run as high as $126.1 million, the Teamsters release stated.
Officials estimate that closing the facilities will cost at the most $25 million, while saving the state $75 million a year because there are more than 1,200 empty spaces to consolidate in its prisons.
Florida TaxWatch, a financial watchdog outfit, has estimated privatization can save from 14 percent to 17 percent, higher than the 7 percent savings required by the state law regarding privatizing the correctional facilities.
Fasano said he hopes more accurate numbers regarding the privatization impacts are available prior to the floor vote.
Alexander, who backed the bill, said taxpayers are already paying heavily for the state having not consolidated the prison facilities.
We see that there is a $75 million loss because in the past we havent consolidated these vacant positions in a more efficient way, Alexander said. The taxpayers have had to pay $75 million that they probably shouldnt have had to pay for the year were in.
Members of both chambers have pushed to require that correctional officers now with the state be given preference in hiring by the companies that take over the operations.
The budget committee did not take up a companion bill that outlines how future privatization efforts are handled by the state. That bill, SB 2036, would allow the privatization effort to be negotiated outside the states Sunshine Law before any contract is signed.
The prison privatization plan was approved as part of the budget last year. However, the 2011 effort was rejected by a Leon County Circuit Court judge who ruled the action should have been done as a stand-alone bill.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
