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Date Published: August 7, 2004
Fair: Leventis' actions 'extreme'
Senator says privatization suit is election year
grandstanding
By BETHANY FULLER
Item Staff Writer
bethanyf@theitem.com
A local senator is taking the S.C. Department of
Corrections' move toward privatization personally, a state senator
from Greenville said on Friday.
State Sen. Mike Fair,
R-Greenville, who is the chairman of the corrections and penology
committee, said Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, is trying to make the
issue of privatizing medical services in the Department of
Corrections a personal one.
"Don't you think that suing the
governor and Director Ozmint for just doing their job is a bit
extreme?" Fair asked.
In a Aug. 5 letter to Gov. Mark
Sanford, Fair wrote, "The recent announcement by Leventis that he
may sue the Department of Corrections over continued negotiations
for privatizing health care is just the latest episode of his
irresponsible grandstanding during an election year."
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FAIR |
| The suit referred to by the
governor's office and Fair is actually an injunction that Leventis
is considering filing because he thinks the Department of
Corrections has broken the law.
Leventis is referring to
Budget Proviso 111.72, which states the Budget and Control Board
will conduct a study about privatizing medical services prior to
implementation. Fair said this latest study for privatization is
costing $20,000.
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LEVENTIS |
| Leventis said he is looking to
see how long the study will take before he decides to file an
injunction to stop negotiations between the Department of
Corrections and private medical service companies.
The
Department of Corrections is negotiating with medical service
providers prior to completion of the study in order to compare it to
the current system, said Jon Ozmint, director of S.C. Department of
Corrections.
Thirty-seven states in the United States have
privatized their inmates' medical service.
"We are not
breaking ground here. If there is a better way to get the same
service or better services, then we need to do it," Fair said. "Both
the governor and director are acting very responsibly."
Fair
said numerous studies, including a recent one in South Carolina,
have been conducted and the conclusions have been consistent
regarding the advantages of privatization. The issue of
privatization should be an executive decision made by Sanford, Fair
said.
Both Leventis and Fair have attended public meetings
with state employees to discuss the issue.
Leventis said he
has not heard from Sanford, Fair or Ozmint on the subject.
"I
have got to continue to look at where we are and look at what is
best for the state," Leventis said.
Contact Staff
Writer Bethany Fuller at bethanyf@theitem.com or
803-774-1222.
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August 9, 2004 
