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 at
Michelleroberts@news.oregonian.com.

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.