Pubdate: Thu, May 20, 1999 Source: Oregonian, The (OR) Copyright: 1999 The Oregonian Contact: 1320 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201 Fax: 503-294-4193 Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/ Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/ Author: Michelle Roberts, the Oregonian BILL WOULD PRIVATIZE STATE'S NEW PRISON * Advocates say the legislation would create competition and hold the current corrections system more accountable Calling the Oregon Department of Corrections a monopoly, a group of Republican senators is pushing a bill that would require the next men's medium-security prison be built and operated by a private company. Sen. Eileen Qutub, R-Beaverton, the bill's chief sponsor, said privatization is needed to hold the Department of Corrections more accountable and to create competition in a prison system bruised by a construction audit released in March. The audit flagged more than $4 million in questionable payments made to contractors during the expansion of the Snake River Correctional Institution in Eastern Oregon. "There have been some audits that say the Department of Corrections needs lessons in contracting," Qutub said. "This isn't to say the DOC is bad, but I think they would find more efficiencies if they had more competition." But opponents of Senate Bill 1247 have attacked the idea, saying private prisons are unsafe for communities and for inmates because efficiency -- not safety -- is their primary goal. "I think it's bad public policy," said Rep. JoAnn Bowman, D-Portland. "Whenever we start developing a profit motive for corrections, we're headed down a bad path." Senate Bill 1247 passed 4-0 in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, but the panel's three Democrats were absent for the vote. Lawmakers said the Republican majority probably will allow the bill to clear both houses, but it faces strong resistance from Gov. John Kitzhaber and from labor unions representing the state's corrections employees. "Our corrections workers do an extremely good job, and we think they do it in a cost-effective way," said Steve Marks, the governor's chief aide on prison issues. "We wouldn't be excited about doing anything that would threaten that good working relationship." Qutub said she was sold on the idea of private prisons when she learned they cost up to 25 percent less to operate than their state-run counterparts. She also cited a study that showed privately constructed facilities took less than half of the time to build for only 60 percent of the cost. The report was released by the Reason Public Policy Institute, a Los Angeles-based research center that promotes privatization. "This study cinched it for me," Qutub said. "And I think we can accrue more savings by ridding ourselves of a monopoly." Mary Botkin, a union representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said private prisons can operate at a lower cost because they skimp on training and wages for their corrections officers and support personnel. She said prison privatization would drive down wages for Oregon corrections employees, creating hardships for those who live in rural communities that depend on family-wage jobs. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Neil Bryant, R-Bend, said wages between state and private prison employees are comparable, but acknowledged that private employees probably would receive fewer fringe benefits. The nation's 120 private prisons, spread across 27 states, house about 120,000 inmates at all security levels. Oregon has shipped inmates out of state in the past to ease crowding at state facilities, but stopped the practice earlier this year. Opponents of private prisons have been quick to point to allegations of abuse and mismanagement. "It makes me very nervous to put another person's liberty in the hands of a company that has a duty to shareholders for a profit," said Alison Hardy, a staff attorney for the Oregon Law Center. And last week, a group of Oregon corrections workers calling themselves the Concerned Oregon Citizens Alliance took out a newspaper advertisement condemning private prisons and SB1247. "Don't let the politicians sell Oregon's Public Prison System to the lowest bidder," the advertisement stated. It urged readers to call their senators directly to oppose the bill and warned that "private prison firms have placed thousands of lives at risk in other states." The corrections workers' ad cited violent prison riots at private facilities in Ohio and brutality against inmates in Texas, and claimed that "inmates were returned to Oregon pregnant." The incidents in Texas and Ohio occurred, but corrections officials said no women prisoners were returned to Oregon pregnant. Two women inmates complained of sexual abuse by prison employees at a private prison in Arizona, said corrections spokeswoman Perrin Damon, but the department could not substantiate those allegations. Rather, the department confirmed sexual misconduct by inmates and prison employees, she said. Department of Corrections Director David S. Cook said he isn't offended by legislators' attempts make the department more accountable. "I agree with that concept, and raising the standards of all involved. Our experience (with private prisons) has been generally OK," he said, "but with enough negative experiences to sour us on the belief that a private company would deliver what they would commit to." You can reach Michelle Roberts at 503-294-5041 or by e-mail * Senate Bill 1247 The issue: Would require the next medium-security men's prison in Oregon be built and operated by a private company. The status: Approved 4-0 by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The players: Supporters: Sen. Eileen Qutub, R-Beaverton, 986-1704; Sen. Neil Bryant, R-Bend, 986-1727. Opponents, Mary Botkin, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, 239-9858. What's next: Sent to the Joint Ways and Means Committee for hearing. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea