By Sascha Cordner
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-986560.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – A labor union filed a complaint with the Florida Ethics Commission against Governor Rick Scott this week. As Sascha Cordner reports, the Teamsters Union claim Scott accepting campaign contributions from Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group, two of the bidders for prison privatization, is a violation.
The complaint says because of the campaign contributions, Scott should have excluded two of the largest prison privatization companies from bidding on state contracts. Teamsters Public Services Division Director Michael Filler explains how the union was first alerted to the conflict of interest:
We saw the amount of money that went in, we then followed up and saw did the state have any interest in these two companies and we were surprised to learn that they in fact did own over 7-million dollars in stock and so, that raised the big question in our minds about this conflict of interest."
But, Lane Wright, Press Secretary for the Governor's Office, says there is no ethics violation and Scott has nothing do with the selection process.
"There were somewhere between 200 and 300 companies and individuals who donated to the inauguration fund and that money went to the Republican Party of Florida and everything was in total compliance with the law."
In addition to the Teamsters Union ethics complaint, the state is already involved in a lawsuit with the Florida Police Benevolent Association regarding prison privatization.