December 22, 2004 Contact: Marty Beil
608
444-6665
A little sunshine not enough to stop contracting abuses
Assembly Speaker John Gard is to be
commended for reacting to the fleecing of
“When the state gives a $685,000
no-bid contract to a favored contractor for a simple web site – something is
very wrong. I’m glad Speaker Gard sees a problem here,” said Marty Beil,
executive director of the Wisconsin State Employees Union,
“Unfortunately, Gard’s proposed
solution amounts to little more than rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic,”
Beil said. Gard has proposed requiring
contractors to register with the state just as lobbyists now must register.
“Throwing a little additional light on
the problem of contracting can’t hurt, but anybody who thinks current lobbying
law has removed the sleaze factor from our state government hasn’t been paying
attention. We need to do much more,”
Beil said.
“Common sense would suggest that the
state should conduct a cost benefit analysis before giving away the store to
private firms,” Beil said.
“Obviously, much of today’s push to privatize
is being driven by a blind ideology or worse, political payoffs. How else can you explain the Department of
Transportation paying $80 an hour for a job formerly done by a state employee
of $11.38?” Beil said.
“Registering lobbyists hasn’t stopped elected
officials from dishing out favors to lobbyists who can help at election time,
and it won’t stop favored firms and cronies from getting their snouts in the
public trough,” Beil said.
“What we need is some real
accountability. Rep. Gard has at least proposed
a starting point. But we need to go much
farther. State agencies should prove
that there is a real benefit for the taxpayers before handing over taxpayer
money to private firms. It’s
simple. If they can’t demonstrate a
savings, the only ones benefiting from contracting are the contractors and
those who cash their campaign contributions,” Beil said.
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