Feb 7, 2008

No Ads in Driver Handbooks?

With most state governments strapped for funds, one would think state agencies would welcome public-private partnerships like the one in Florida that has provided more than two million driver handbooks each year at no taxpayer expense. The publisher of the handbooks -- the National Safety Commission -- has supported the effort by its ability to sell advertising space in the handbooks.  Now as part of a pending lawsuit, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) has filed a request for a summary judgment asking that the court upholds legislation that could bring an end to the award-winning public-private partnership. The latest motion filed by the DHSMV asks for a ruling that recent legislation passed by the state legislature is constitutional and that the agency can cancel the agreement.

In 2004, the idea for the landmark public-private partnership won the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Davis Productivity Award -- a benchmark of government innovation to protect taxpayer dollars. Florida TaxWatch has endorsed the plan, estimated to save $2.5 million over five years, and has said the state could save $20 million more by employing other such partnerships to publish state information.

"It is simply unconscionable that at a time when the state is cutting funding for schools and critical social services, an agency head is spending costly state resources to kill a contract that has saved Florida taxpayers millions of dollars," said National Safety Commission President Ken Underwood. "This decision displays a troubling misjudgment of priorities, and all Floridians should be questioning why a state agency is running up legal bills and aggressively supporting language that is clearly unconstitutional and designed specifically to eliminate a model public-private partnership whose performance has been praised by independent observers."