Efforts to privatize government services in cities and states do not always save the city money, replace well paid and benefited largely unionized public workers with low paid, lesser benefited and non-unionized private workers, and reduce or even eliminate effective control over this public service by the public. A number of states and cities have established rules governing the pace and process of privatization.
Rules
Pacheco Law in Massachusetts
In 1993, after Massachusetts government privatized 36 operations in the previous 3 years, the legislature passed what came to be called the Pacheco Law over then-Governor William F. Weld’s veto. The law imposes the strictest series of tests in the nation before a service can be privatized.… Read More
Ban on Privatizing Prisons in Illinois
In 1990 Illinois enacted a ban on private prisons which remains in place in 2012, declaring that “the management and operation of a correctional facility or institution involves functions that are inherently governmental.”… Read More