Time to Outsource

Arnold got it right. The current health care reform bill is “health care to nowhere.” He also got most of it right with his recent state of the state address and the proposed $500 million job training/new jobs program. Creating new jobs, as long as they are not state employee jobs, needs to be the priority. But if we don’t have jobs, what good is spending money on job training. All focus/monies should be put to providing a stimulus to the private sector to develop jobs. Private industry is very capable of training their own employees. From paid internships, to tax savings, to supplementing wages for hiring of new employees, this is where the $500 million should be spent to get more people working and spending. Over the past 10 years California state employees have increased dramatically along with reduced services and a huge debt. With that track record, to spend more money on programs that will increase state employees is a very bad idea.

The time has come to start more outsourcing/competitive bidding for needed services throughout the state. Competition is good, but it won’t be easy as the power of the state employee unions is strong. It took the city of San Diego over three years after voters ratified the idea by over 60 percent to call for a competitive bid for a small part of their annual information-technology work and they’re not only getting more service, but at a cost savings of $1.5 million a year. How much more money could be saved if other services were put out to competitive bid? East County Assemblyman Joel Anderson said it best: “The best economic stimulus is private sector growth. We need to put every option on the table and make it easier for businesses to get hiring again. Government just needs to get out of the way long enough to allow the free market to prosper.” I couldn’t agree more.

Jeff Mitchell