So, not only are Republicans in Michigan going back on their word in the latest budget deal that could have created new jobs, they are admiting that they will not save the taxpayers millions just so they can spite the Governor. Isn't that special.
Michigan taxpayers could be stuck paying $5.4 million for a year's lease on a vacant prison near Baldwin unless the Legislature adopts a simple amendment barring the payment.
But Republican legislative leaders, who opposed Gov. Jennifer Granholm's decision to cancel the contract with the privately run prison, are balking at introducing the amendment.
"We have no plans to save the governor from herself," said Ari Adler, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, R-Wyoming.
Corrections Department spokesman Russ Marlin responded: "To me, that means they have no intention of saving the taxpayers $5.4 million. If the Legislature would add one sentence (to the budget bill), the whole thing would be moot. There are no prisoners there. There are no employees there. It's an empty building."
Granholm announced last February she intended to cancel the state's contract with the Geo Group Inc., the Florida company that owns the prison for young offenders. Her proposed budget for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 included no money for the prison. After Republican legislators inserted money in the budget for the prison, Granholm, a Democrat, vetoed that appropriation.
Last week, the Geo Group sued the state, claiming only the Legislature has the authority to cancel the lease on the building. If the state wants out of the lease, "the contract language requires that the Legislature affirmatively say that money appropriated to the Department of Corrections cannot be used for the lease," said Michael Hodge, the attorney representing the Geo Group.
If the Legislature adopts an amendment nullifying that claim, the company still could proceed with the lawsuit, claiming "the state induced them to build there," Hodge said. "It's a prison built in an area you wouldn't normally build in."
The Village of Baldwin and Webber Township also sued, claiming the state wrongfully terminated the contract.
But Marlin said Granholm believes she met the legal requirements by giving the Geo Group more than 60 days notice and vetoing money for the prison.
Adler said Republican legislative leaders have asked their legal staff to review the issue. Republican leaders, he said, are concerned the cancellation sends the wrong message to companies that do business with the state.
"It's about the reputation of the state with the business community," he said. "It's not about politics."
But Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said there is "no question" the Legislature politicized the issue."
The Legislature's own auditors showed the state could save money by canceling the contract, she said.
This also points to a bigger problem with privitizing government services. Anytime the state or Feds want to stop a contract, that people that lose money are open to sue. Bad, bad, bad idea. Let's not privitize these services anymore. Nothing but expensive trouble. We think that we might be saving money, but in the long run we are not if we open ourselves up to this sort of thing.