Malloy Calls On Rell To Sign Contracting Reform Bill
10.27.2005
Category: Better Government
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MALLOY CALLS ON RELL TO SIGN CONTRACTING REFORM BILL
Says common sense privatization restrictions shouldn't doom needed reform again
STAMFORD -- Democratic candidate for Governor Dan Malloy, Stamford's Mayor, today released the following statement on the state contracting reform bill passed yesterday by the State Senate and expected to be debated today by the State House of Representatives:
"I applaud the State Senate for once again passing much-needed comprehensive state contracting reform and am confident the House will follow suit. I strongly urge Governor Rell to drop her continuing opposition to this bill and sign it into law.
The Governor has threatened to once again veto state contracting reform because she mistakenly believes that one minor provision in this much-needed bill will hinder non-profit agencies from providing valuable state services. That could not be farther from the truth. While the bill does set up standards for privatization of state services, non-profits are accorded a separate standard, making it easier for them to continue their vital services to the State and its residents. It seems that the Governor's real problem is with the privatization standards themselves, which do place some common-sense restrictions and guidelines on the Governor's ability to privatize state services. There were virtually no standards during the Rowland Administration, and we all know how that turned out.
This week's guilty pleas by a former high-ranking Rowland Administration official and a state contractor are a glaring reminder of the need for contracting reform, and privatization failures and near-misses during the Rowland years clearly illustrate the need for safeguards against unnecessary privatization of state services.
This is a good and reasonable bill, all the way around. If she truly wants the good government reforms she professes to embrace, Governor Rell needs to admit that privatization, like the state contracting process, is broken and needs stronger oversight, and she must sign this bill. If she can't admit to that, we will be continuing the same policies and practices that allowed a Governor, his chief-of-staff, and a well-connected state contractor to run amok, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars and lining their own pockets. After all, if you can't acknowledge the problem, you can't fix it, either."
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