As part of his budget rethink, new Governor John Kasich has proposed a number of initiatives that have come under fire from opposition. Privatizing the state’s liquor agency, creating a non-profit public/private job creation outfit, selling off the state’s prisons to private operators — all theses have been proposed with the guiding spirit of cost reduction hanging in the background. And of course, considering the current climate, where political affiliations have crystallized into battle lines, each of these have been hot button.
But now one left-leaning think tank has issued a report full of legitimate and well-researched concerns; the paper is full of data points sharp enough to possibly deflate the idea that auctioning off Ohio’s prisons will save us money. According to Policy Matters Ohio, private prisons haven’t always saved the state money, even though they’re required by law to do so.
This article appears in Apr 20-26, 2011.