Leading Outsourcing Watchdog Group Praises CA Proposal to Reign in Wasteful Contracting

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/

For Immediate Release: January 13, 2014
Contact: Richard Allen Smith / [e-mail] / [phone]

Leading Outsourcing Watchdog Group Praises CA Proposal to Reign in Wasteful Contracting

Washington, DC – In the Public Interest released the following statement in response to California Governor Jerry Brown's 2014-15 budget request, which noted that "contracted services can be more costly, and that there is value and utility in training and developing state employees to perform ongoing tasks." ITPI Executive Director Donald Cohen had this to say:

"From the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov by mega-contractor CGI Federal to the continued scandals of private prison companies, Americans have seen the catastrophic results of the reckless outsourcing of public services. States across the country should look to California for ideas to protect taxpayers and their hard earned dollars. Outsourcing public services to for-profit ventures often produces sub-par services, forces taxpayers to give up control, and, as Gov. Brown notes, often is more costly than keeping these functions in the hands of public service workers. We hope to see other states follow California's lead."

In the Public Interest is a resource center on government outsourcing and a watchdog group that monitors the use of taxpayer dollars in contracting. ITPI recently rolled out the Taxpayer Empowerment Agenda, a set of 11 commonsense policy recommendations to help ensure taxpayers and their states and localities get what they pay for when services are outsourced.

- ### -

In the Public Interest is a comprehensive resource center on privatization and responsible contracting. www.inthepublicinterest.org

[SoCalDem]

1. rein in..not reign in.. it's a good idea though