Although the Senate voted down a bill that would have required some prisons in Florida to be privatized, Gov. Rick Scott said Thursday, he would explore ways to move ahead to do so.
Scott was speaking to reporters at when he admitted privatization of prisons wasn’t a priority, but expressed disappointment that the Senate voted down the bill.
“It wasn’t something that was one of my legislative session priorities this year, but here’s what I think about it,” Scott said, The News Service of Florida reports. “I got elected to hold government accountable, to not waste taxpayers’ money. So here was an opportunity that the Senate had to give us the opportunity to save a significant amount of money….. I’m disappointed the Senate didn’t do that. I’m going to look at what I have the opportunity to do. …I’m going to make sure that we don’t waste money.”
Scott said there are fewer inmates and prison privatization would save money, which could be used for education or put into purchasing textbooks.
The bill which went down in a 21-9 vote Wednesday, would have required the privatization of prisons in an 18-county area, largely in South Florida. It would have also required operators of the prisons to guarantee savings of $16.5 million annually, in order to win the contract.
Oppenents of the bill have remained skeptical that millions of dollars would be saved. Nationwide, studies point to little or no savings arising from prison privatization. Also, there is no evidence that private prisons are better run than state penitentiaries.
Reacting to Scott’s announcement that he would continue to explore ways to move ahead with prison privatization, Ken Wood, acting president of Teamsters Local 2011, said, “The Senate reflected the will of the citizens of Florida when it voted to kill prison privatization,” The News Service of Florida reports.
“Floridians do not want the rules changed so private companies can get secret contracts with no cost-benefit analysis and no public review,” he added.
