confine federal Bureau of Prison (BOP) inmates in non-BOP facilities has nearly tripled from about $250 million in fiscal year 1996 to about $700 million in fiscal year 2006. Proponents of using contractors to operate prisons claim it can save money; others question whether contracting is a cost-effective alternative. In response to Conference Report 109-272, accompanying Pub. L. No. 109-108 (2005), this report discusses the feasibility and implications of comparing the costs for confining federal inmates in low and minimum security BOP facilities with those managed by private firms for BOP. GAO reviewed available data on a selection of 34 low and minimum security facilities; related laws, regulations, and documents; and interviewed BOP and contract officials.

The U.S. corrections system (CS) has gone through an unprecedented expansion during the last few decades. At the end of 2008, 2.3 million adults were in state, local, or fed. custody, with another 5.1 million on probation or parole. Of that total, 9% were in fed. custody. Globally, the U.S. has 5% of the world¿s population but 25% of its prisoners. Contents of this report: (1) CS Sector; (2) U.S. CS; (3) Incarceration Trends; (4) Prison Employment: Unions; (5) Prison Construction; Rural Prisons; Cost and Overcrowding; Financing; (6) Private Sector: Private Prison Co.; The Private Prison Industry: Corrections Corp. of America; Geo Group; Cornell Co.; Other Private Firms; Phone Service; (7) Prisons as Drivers of Econ. Development. Illus.

Written by award-winning CQ Researcher journalists, this annual collection of nonpartisan and thoroughly researched reports focuses on 16 hot-button policy issues. With reports ranging from racial profiling to prescription drug costs, the Twentieth Edition of Issues for Debate in American Public Policy promotes in-depth discussion, facilitates further research, and helps readers formulate their own positions on crucial policy issues. And because it is CQ Researcher, the policy reports are expertly researched and written, showing readers all sides of an issue. Because this annual volume comes together just months before publication, all selections are brand new and explore some of today’s most significant American public policy issues, including: racial profiling, populism and party politics, student debt, the gig economy, the future of the coal industry, prescription drug costs, and much more!

Budgeting for Local Governments and Communities is designed as the primary textbook for a quarter or semester-long course in public budgeting and finance in an MPA programme. Many currently available texts for this course suffer from a combination of defects that include a focus on federal and state budgeting, a lack of a theoretical governance framework, an omission of important topics, and typically a lack of exercises and datasets for student use. Budgeting for Local Governments and Communities solves all of these problems. The book is exceptionally comprehensive and well written, and represents the efforts of veteran authors with both teaching and real-world experience. Key Features: Special Focus on Local Government Budgeting: focuses exclusively on budgeting at the local levels of American government, which are responsible for spending 40 percent of the taxes collected from citizens. Integration of Theory and Practice: teaching cases and chapters capture the "lessons learned" by professional practitioners who have extensive experience in making local public budgeting work on the ground. Polity Approach to Local Budgeting: presents an introduction to local budgeting as the central political activity that integrates the resources of the community into a unified whole. Budgeting is presented as governance work, rather than as a unique set of skills possessed by analysts and financial specialists. Legal, Historical, Economic and Moral Foundations of Local Government Budgeting: provides readers with an understanding of how the structures and processes of local budgeting systems are firmly tethered to the underlying core values, legal principles and historical development of the larger American federal, state and local political systems. Electronic Datasets and Budgeting Exercises: the text includes access to extensive electronic datasets and practice exercises that provide abundant opportunities for students to "learn through doing." Extensive Glossary and Bibliography: covers terms on the history and practice of local public budgeting.