Privitization Contracting Out and Public Employees by William Eggers and Adrian Moore William Eggers, Privatization Center director, and Adrian Moore, associate director of economic studies, at the Reason Foundation . Throughout the United States, public officials are looking for innovative ways to cut the cost of government.
Budgets are tight and demand for services is at an all-time high.
Contracting out, which can balance budgets without raising taxes, has emerged as a leading policy option for streamlining government. Despite the potential for sizable cost savings, public officials often face strong opposition to contracting efforts, especially from public employees and their unions. Not satisfied with opposing specific privatization proposals, public-employee unions in many states have pushed for legal protection for their jobs in the state legislatures or in the courts. Contracting Under Siege in Hawaii A number of states now have laws on the books restricting privatization projects that replace public employees. Hawaii is one such state.