August 15, 2001—As the next step in the debate over whether the Federal Prison Industries (trade name UNICOR) should have to compete for government contracts with those in the private sector, US Senator Carl Levin, along with Senator Craig Thomas, introduced the Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act on August 1, 2001. The premise of the bill is that “it is unfair for Federal Prison Industries to deny citizens in the private sector an opportunity to compete for sales to their own government.”
According to Senator Levin, the bill “would not limit the ability of Federal Prison Industries to sell its products to federal agencies. It would simply say that these sales should be made on a competitive, rather than a sole-source basis.” He added that under the current system, “if Federal Prison Industries says that it wants a contract, it gets that contract, regardless whether a company in the private sector may offer to provide the product better, cheaper, and faster.”
Groups ranging from the AFL-CIO to the US Chamber of Commerce joined together to form the Competition in Contracting Act Coalition (CCAC) to support the reform of the prison program. For information on reform efforts, visit the CCAC. Senator Levin’s full statement can be found on his Web site.
