Lawmakers seek to tighten rules on public contractors
State lawmakers hoping to strengthen scrutiny on contractors privatizing government services moved forward with a measure to make vendors deliver savings, while also tightening rules on cost-cutting.
“If you are going to privatize your services, you need to be able to substantiate that you are saving money,” said Sen. Fred Madden, chairman of the Labor Committee and a Democrat from Gloucester County, explaining the motivation for two previous bills that Monday were merged into one.
Madden urged lawmakers to find a “balance” between two different concerns: that governments determine that private contractors provide services which are really less expensive, while also blocking the contractors from simply paying their workers less than state employees would earn in pay and benefits. (Fletcher, The Record)