Arizona Sees Privatization as Solution to Budget Crisis

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is taking steps towards comprehensive state government reform, utilizing public-private partnerships and privatization of public services to save taxpayers money and ensure quality services continue.

To streamline government, Gov. Brewer created the Commission on Privatization and Efficiency (COPE), which recently released its preliminary report. Several key recommendations are among those CF has urged Pennsylvania lawmakers to consider, such as:

• Leasing state park operations,
• Privatizing road maintenance, and
• Public-private partnerships for rest stops.

Other recommendations in the report include:

• Developing broad asset management,
• Consolidation of email systems,
• Cell phone contract management,
• Improved personal computer power management,
• Interdepartmental exchange of surplus equipment,
• Privatized education data collection,
• Consolidated credentialing, and
• Electronic signatures for online tax filing.

We can expect to hear more about privatization efforts in the near future as states try to rein in budget deficits while federal stimulus money dissipates and the public pension crisis plaguing many states grows.