Group Urges End to Aid for Private Prisons

Politicians have invested heavily in private prisons, but their communities are not necessarily seeing an economic payoff, a new report shows.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington-based research center, is urging leaders to end subsidies for prisons.

Over the last 15 years, privately run prisons have popped up around the country, as officials looked for alternatives to crowded government facilities.

The institute’s Good Jobs First project found that most of the prisons were built with incentive packages that included things like property tax breaks, government financing, training grants and construction help.