Previous privatization bills have included provisions that block privatization if companies cannot demonstrate that they will operate at a lower cost than public agencies. Corrections corporations often meet these requirements by reducing the staffing levels and pay with no regard to the worker or community safety, or by moving more expensive, chronically ill prisoners to state-run facilities.

As these details about the poor record of private prison companies have started to get public attention, a bill that would expedite privatization for all government services was put on hold by the Senate Budget Committee. The anti-worker legislators pushing the bill feared that the committee would bend to overwhelming pressure and vote it down. AFSCME members will keep up the pressure on legislators over the weekend with a series of in-district lobbying and media events.