A new report from the Institute on Money in State Politics finds that private prison interests spent $1 million to influence Florida's government this past year. This figure only includes campaign and party contributions, and does not include the tens of thousands also spent lobbying the government during the same timeframe. This all came leading up to the Governor's proposal, and Legislature's decision, to privatize the correctional services of 18 counties, the largest single-instance privatization of prisons probably ever.
The GEO Group alone spent more than $820,000 in campaign contributions in the last year. So exactly what did all this money buy for them? “I think the Florida opportunity is several hundreds of millions,” said Brian Evans, GEO Group’s chief financial officer, adding that it will be among “the largest opportunities we’ve ever seen in the history of our industry.”
I am just really sad to see how influential money can be in our government. Unlimited private campaign contributions and our corporate welfare state are simply unacceptable. Florida's government doesn't give a shit about anything or anyone that doesn't feed its insatiable greed.
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