Cleaning costs at state office are up

Immigration raids that led to the firing two state janitorial contractors has had the unintended consequence of driving up the cost of cleaning state offices.

The Carcieri administration says new contracts are expected to drive up the cost for janitorial services 20 percent this year.

A spokesman for Attorney General Patrick Lynch tells The Providence Journal that the same number of people are cleaning the
AG's offices, but the cost has risen from $3,292 to $5,400 per month since Falcon Maintenance was fired and replaced.

The attorney general's office was one of many state facilities affected after a federal immigration sweep last July resulted in the arrests of 31 suspected illegal immigrants employed by Falcon and TriState Enterprises.

Both companies were fired.