November 8, 2009
Private-prison plan for state shows scant sign of progress
Arizona's plan to turn over its prisons to private companies in exchange for a $100 million upfront payment is having trouble getting off the drawing board, with the plan behind schedule and prison operators showing little interest.
The privatization effort is required under a law enacted last summer as lawmakers struggled to close a huge budget shortfall. It directs the state to award a contract to one or more private companies to run an unspecified number of prisons for $100 million.
It emerged as Republican lawmakers cast about for alternatives to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer's proposal to increase the sales tax to avoid deep cuts…
LINK - AZStarNet.com
