(Posted on behalf of The Fernald League, Inc.)
Last week, I posted a (lonely) defense of the Pacheco Law here in the face of a continuing onslaught of calls for its repeal.
I noted that GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker has made repeal of the law a campaign issue. Boston Globe columnist Scot Lehigh characterized the law, which was enacted in the early 1990s, as having "effectively ended the state's experiment with hiring private-sector firms to deliver public services."
The pro-privatization Reason Institute claimed that as a result of the Pacheco Law, Massachusetts is the "only state in the nation that has virtually outlawed the privatization of public services."
However, I've just received some numbers from the state Comptroller's Office, which appear to indicate that, despite the allegedly insurmountable hurdles put up by the Pacheco Law, privatization is alive and well in Massachusetts.