Governor defends water-bond bill, denies pork claims(2)
"It's not the revenues that we have a problem with," Schwarzenegger said. "We have looked for more revenues. It cost (Cogdill) his leadership job. It cost me a lot of pain with my party and with conservatives."
Instead, Schwarzenegger advocated for dramatic changes in how the state does business. He suggested that California change its constitution to allow for more hiring of private firms to replace jobs now done by state workers, particularly in the prison sector.
"It's just that we have a system in place that everything has to be run by state employees, and that inevitably costs you literally one-third more than bidding it out to the private sector," Schwarzenegger said, referring to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The governor added, "One has to go back and debate that issue and go back to the ballot, maybe, and go ask the people to change it."
The California Constitution requires that civil service employees generally must perform state services, according to the legislative analyst. The state can hire private firms when services are temporary, are unavailable to be produced by civil service workers or are highly technical. A 2000 ballot initiative approved by voters and upheld by courts gave California greater ability to outsource public works projects. California has used private prisons for 23 years on a small scale, but Schwarzenegger wants to expand the state's reliance on them.
Lance Corcoran, spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, argued that private prisons are less accountable and have more turnover than public prisons.
"Should it be Acme Prisons or should it be the state of California enforcing the rules of the state and nation?" Corcoran said. "… Your level of confidence in the person wearing a 'John's Security Co.' patch at the mall is not as great as your confidence in the level of training, background and experience of someone wearing a Sacramento County sheriffs' badge."
