Saxton is peddling the line again that we just need to privatize food service in state prisons to fund the Oregon State Police.

SAXTON: The state feeds its prisoners with government employees, using government procurement rules to cook in government kitchens. If you just took the cost of food in the county jails and said the state could feed its prisoners for that, you just freed up enough money to hire back 80 to 100 police officers. That’s what I’m talking about for common sense. [KLCC, 10/3/2006]

It just isn't true. Oregon ranks number twelve in the nation for cost efficiency in our state prisons. The state spend $2.38 per day to feed each prisoner. Washington County, which has privatized services, pays 83 cents to 89 cents per meal (that's $2.49 to $2.67 a day).

The state's larger size lets it use centralized purchasing, along with some very savy bargaining, to feed prisoners are very reasonable rates.

Of course Saxton's proposal also completely misses a key point in the need to fund the state police - a dedicated funding source. Savings would go back into the general fund. Yet the chief challenge of OSP funding over the past two decades has been forcing it to compete with other priorities. The state police need a dedicated funding source that allows for stable investment in training more troopers and retaining specializations.