Rhode Island Carcieri Reiterates Plans To Save Tax Dollars Through Privatizing State Services

Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri today reiterated his determination to move forward on efforts to enable private businesses to compete for the right to deliver various state services as part of a larger effort to save money for Rhode Island taxpayers.

At 11:30 p.m. on Friday, June 16, 2007, the General Assembly snuck into the FY 2008 state budget a provision designed to block the administration from saving money through privatization. While the Governor recognized that this new law would make privatization much more difficult, he announced his intention to use any legal means necessary to achieve the goal of reducing costs to taxpayers while maintaining or improving the delivery of important state services.

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“This new anti-privatization law was specifically designed by the General Assembly to protect the interests of the state employee unions at the expense of Rhode Island taxpayers,” Governor Carcieri said. “Members of the Democratic General Assembly and their union backers hoped this would stop us in our tracks, and that this would make even limited progress impossible.”

“As Governor of this state, I am determined not to let them succeed,” Carcieri continued. “In the coming weeks and months, my administration will use every legal means necessary to move forward on our plans to save millions of dollars by enabling qualified private businesses to deliver eligible state services. If necessary, we will jump through every hoop and we will fight the inevitable court challenges.”

“In particular, we are currently working to determine the way forward on our proposals to privatize housekeeping and food service delivery at Eleanor Slater Hospital and the Veterans Home,” the Governor said. “Before the General Assembly passed this anti-privatization law, we were on track to award a contract for housekeeping services that would have saved taxpayers $13 million over five years. That’s too much money for us to just walk away. Instead, we need to find a way to achieve those savings, even if it means going back to the beginning of the process.”

“Let me be clear: I will not be deterred from my responsibility as Governor to do everything possible to solve Rhode Island’s budget problems,” Governor Carcieri said.

Source: Rhode Island Governor