Public–private partnerships (PPP or P3) are cooperative arrangements between two or more public and private sectors, typically of a long-term nature.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administration Review, 2007, Vol. 67(3), pp. 545–558 In the United States, they mostly took the form of toll roads concessions, community post offices and urban renewal projects.David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito,"Rival Road Builders: Private Toll Roads in Nevada, 1852–1880,* Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 41 (Summer 1998), 71–91. In recent years, there has been interest in expanding P3s to multiple infrastructure projects, such as schools, universities, government buildings, waste and water. Reasons for expanding public-private partnership in the United States were initially cost-cutting and concerns about Public debt. In the early 2000s, P3s were implemented sporadically by different States and municipalities with little federal guidance. During Obama's second term, multiple policies were adopted to facilitate P3 projects, and Congress passed bills in that direction with overwhelming bipartisan support. My Brother's Keeper Challenge is an example of a public–private partnership. Some Private-public partnerships were carried out without incident, while others have attracted much controversy.
Origins Public-private partnerships in America have existed in one form of another since the beginning of the colonial period, as colonial charters were based on a partnership between the British Crown and a company responsible for colonisation. Much of the early infrastructure of the United States was built by what can be considered public-private partnerships. This includes the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike road in Pennsylvania, which was initiated in 1792, an early steamboat line between New York and New Jersey in 1808; many of the railroads, including the nation's first railroad, chartered in New Jersey in 1815; and most of the modern electric grid. In the mid to late nineteenth century, toll roads concessions were first introduced in the United States, and this became a prevalent form of P3s in the country during the 20th century. P3s in the United States are also "traditionally associated with urban renewal and downtown economic development".
The prevalence of Public-Private Partnerships in public infrastructure increased around the world during the 1990s and 2000s. This was particularly the case in countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, with strong encouragements from their national governments. The United States did not take part of this worldwide trend partly because the federal and States government traditionally had a small role in these areas, with public infrastructure projects being mostly funded through a well-functioning municipal bonds system. However, the United States became friendlier to P3s during Obama's second term, with the adoption of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST) and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) by Congress. The Department of Transportation also created the Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC) to help P3s access federal credit and facilitate their implementation.
Motivations Pressure to sign Asset Montization P3 deals and to change the standard funding model for infrastructure projects arise from concerns about the level of public debt.
U.S. city managers' motivations for exploring P3s vary. According to a 2007 survey, two primary reasons were expressed: cost reduction (86.7%) and external fiscal pressures, including tax restrictions (50.3%). No other motivations expressed exceeded 16%. In the 2012 survey, however, interest had shifted to the need for better processes (69%), relationship building (77%), better outcomes (81%), leveraging resources (84%), and belief that P3s are "the right thing to do" (86%)." Among those surveyed, the provision of public services through contracts with private firms peaked in 1977, at 18%, and has declined since. The most common form of shared service delivery now involves contracts between governments, growing from 17% in 2002 to 20% in 2007. "At the same time, approximately 22% of the local governments in the survey indicated that they had brought back in-house at least one service that they had previously provided through some alternative private arrangement.
There has been proposals to reform social security and emergency services in the United States by transforming them into public-private partnerships to ensure their continued funding.
Asset Monetization A form of P3 that became prevalent in American cities during the 21st century are asset monetization arrangements. They concerns a city's revenue-generating assets (Parking lots, garage and meters, public lights, toll roads, etc.) and transforms them into financial assets that the city can lease to a private corporation in exchange for operation and maintenance. These deals are usually done during periods of financial distress for the city, and the immediate revenues municipalities receive in these deals is used to pay down the debt or to fill budget holes. The 2014 Detroit bankruptcy deal included many of such Asset Monetization arrangements.
Social impact bonds Social impact bonds (also called Pay for Success bonds) are "a public-private partnership which funds effective social services through a performance-based contract."Social Finance (2016) Social Impact Bonds: The early years They operate over a fixed period of time, but they do not offer a fixed rate of return. Repayment to investors is contingent upon specified social outcomes being achieved.http://www.socialfinance.org.uk/downloads/SIB_report_web.pdf
Social impact bonds have generated a particularly large amount of interest in the United States. In February 2011, Barack Obama's proposed 2012 budget stated that up to $100m would be freed up to run social impact bond pilot schemes. In August, 2012, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to create a policy to encourage the creation of Social impact bonds, which they call "social innovation financing". The state legislature authorised spending up to $50 million on the initiatives.
The U.S. Department of Justice gave "Priority Consideration" to Fiscal Year 2012 Second Chance Act grant applications that include a Pay for Success component. The Second Chance Act (P.L. 110–199) authorizes federal grants to support services that help reduce recidivism. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded nearly $24 million in grants for Pay for Success projects that provide employment services to formerly incarcerated individuals in order to increase employment and reduce recidivism.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced in 2013 it will provide $5 billion in grant dollars to assist in the rebuilding and strengthening effort following Hurricane Sandy and encouraged the five states impacted by the storm to make use of Pay for Success strategies where appropriate. In 2013, the Department of the Treasury issued a Request for Information (RFI) that will help design a proposed $300 million Incentive Fund to further expand Pay for Success. The Fund is intended to encourage cities, states and nonprofits to test new Pay for Success models. This same Fund was also part of the President's commitment of nearly $500 million in the 2013 Budget to expand Pay for Success strategies.
California
The California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) is a public-private partnership to promote hydrogen vehicles (including cars and buses) in California. It is notable as one of the first initiatives for that purpose undertaken in the United States. The challenge is which come first, hydrogen cars or filling stations.
San Diego has entered into numerous PPP agreements. "San Diego has used P3s more extensively and, with Petco Park, on a larger scale than is typical of cities elsewhere". One explanation for San Diego's propensity towards P3 agreements is "...local residents refuse to tax themselves to pay for public benefits and prefer private-sector actors to take the lead...". "...tax shares are usually linear functions of property values..., jurisdictions have an incentive to try to exclude those who would have below-average property values. The incentive leads to such local policies as minimum lot sizes, restrictions on multiple-unit dwellings, and restrictive building codes...One social cost if these policies is a reduction in housing opportunities for low- and middle-income families"
In April 2013, Social Finance US and Collective Health launched an asthma management demonstration project in Fresno, California. Fresno is one of the nation's asthma hot spots; around 20 percent of its children have been diagnosed with the disease, which takes an especially heavy toll among poor communities. Two service providers Central California Asthma Collaborative and Clinica Sierra Vista, will work with the families of 200 low-income children with asthma to provide home care, education, and support in reducing environmental triggers ranging from cigarette smoke to dust mites.
Illinois Facing a budget crisis in 2005, the city of Chicago entered multiple infrastructure asset monetization P3 deals. These deals were signed with multinational institutional investors and carried out in haste, with final deals being struck days after the start of negotiations. Subsequent municipal Inspector general's reports on the Parking concessions found the City significantly underpriced the value of these assets in these deals. +Chicago's asset monetization deals ConcessionDuration Sold forSubsequent valuationChicago Skyway toll road99 years$1.83 Billion$2.83 Billion (2015)Downtown parking garages99 years$563 Million$2.13 Billion (together over the next 75 years) Public parking meters75 years$1.15 Billion On 5 May 2014, the State of Illinois announced the state's first Pay for Success (PFS) contract will increase support for at-risk youth who are involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in Illinois. The first contract awarded under this innovative initiative will go to One Hope United, in partnership with the Conscience Community Network (CCN).
Louisiana Billy Nungesser, the lieutenant governor of Louisiana, proposed in 2017 that public–private partnerships be established for many of his state's financially strapped state parks, which fall under his jurisdiction, particularly citing two popular facilities in Sabine Parish: North Toledo Bend State Park and Hodges Gardens State Park, at which operating costs vastly outstrip revenues from the $1 park admission fees. Because of recurring state financial issues, the fate of state parks in Louisiana remain in doubt after July 1, 2017.
Massachusetts