NEWS RELEASE from the Jeff Schwartz Campaign
(As posted by Arizona Progress and Gazette)
(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are posted only for purposes of discussion.)
SCOTTSDALE (March 31, 2014): Citing kids in failing schools with crowded classrooms and continuing issues for Child Protective Services, Republican candidate for Senate in LD 23, Jeff Schwartz, is calling on candidate and current Representative John Kavanagh to identify who lobbied him for a last minute budget insert of one million dollars to guarantee profits for private prisons. He also challenged Kavanagh to refuse campaign contributions from those lobbyists and prison executives for his upcoming election. “This last minute rush to appropriate a million dollars that the Department of Corrections did not even ask for calls for transparency and explanation.”
“As a businessman, I know the challenges of risk vs. reward. Last I checked, the government wasn’t in the business of guaranteeing private business a profit,” stated Schwartz. Multiple sheriffs in Arizona have stated they have room in their jails to accommodate prisoners and, in fact, have criticized the Department of Corrections and the Legislature over their use of private prisons. Schwartz is not opposed to private prisons, but is opposed to the government guaranteeing profits. “I’ve never seen such a blatant example of the government picking winners and losers as this late night, back room deal suggests,” said Schwartz.
