Bethlehem City Democratic Committee

There is a new round of questions over Gov. Tom Corbett's privatization panel. The panel, filled with donors and major supporters, raised severe concerns over potential conflicts of interest. Many members of the panel stood to benefit from reckless privatization, while there were few voices to make the case that privatization is costly and provides diminished services while only benefiting corporate special interests.   

This week, Capitolwire reported the panel held its first meeting. The meeting was not open to the public, but it wasn't quite closed-door - it was open to lobbyists. This certainly cuts against the pledge of openness and transparency that Tom Corbett ran on in 2010. 

 Now the privatization panel is considering liquor privatization, an area originally outside of the panel's issues.

 There are several important questions: Why was the meeting open to lobbyists but not the general public? What lobbyists attended and what industries do they represent?

Capitolwire: Gov. Corbett's privatization commission changes plan, will try to advance liquor store sales. (Capitolwire, Subscription Only) Corbett spokesman Gary Miller said no minutes were taken and the meeting was not recorded. But attendees said commission chairman Jack Barbour made it clear that liquor system divestment was on their agenda. They also said it was not a closed-door meeting, since lobbyists attended. http://www.capitolwire.com/default.asp?tabstucknum=30

(Morning Call) Although it was originally outside its mandate, Gov. Tom Corbett's privatization task force is refocusing on efforts to offload Pennsylvania's state-owned liquor stores, which was supposed to be on this fall's to-do list for the General Assembly. It wasn't clear Thursday precisely what role the new advisory body, which is studded with business leaders and Corbett donors, will play in jump-starting the debate over whether the state should be in the booze business. The panel met this week for what was described as an "organizational gathering." A full meeting is not expected until early next year. http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-privatization-20111201,0,5537326.story

17 of 24 on state privatization panel contributed to Corbett's campaign (Post Gazette) Gov. Tom Corbett's new privatization council is already taking some criticism for its makeup, with Democrats saying it contains too many campaign donors who could benefit from their own recommendations. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11274/1179031-454.stm#ixzz1fOdz7ZLW

Corbett's privatization panel includes people who could benefit from privatization (Philadelphia Inquirer) On Friday, we noticed that the members of the Corbett administration's new privatization panel won't be subject to the new state ethics law. So we asked the administration what protections would be put in place to ensure that these appointees, some from private industry, won't personally benefit from the work of the panel. Spokesman Gary Miller told us: "No council members have business interests that would benefit from any recommendations they would make." http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/our-money/130973113.html