Pennsylvania Ditches Lottery Privatization Bid

Gov. Tom Corbett announced this week that he would not be pushing his plan to hand over management of the lottery to an outside firm.

January 02, 2014

HARRISBURG, Penn. — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett will not seek transfer of the state lottery’s management to a private company, the Philadelphia Inquiry reports. The governor had been pushing to hand over the running of the lottery to Camelot Global Services, a British company.

Corbett said that Camelot would not receive the $34 million agreement, adding that he would “take what we’ve learned to make our successful lottery even better — expanding the player and retailer base, improving player loyalty, and implementing strategies that will grow our lottery responsibly and efficiently.”

The governor had been consulting for more than 12 months — and millions of dollars —on privatization options, but legal challenges and opposition from a variety of groups stymied the process. “It is unfortunate that [the] announcement comes only after millions of lottery fund dollars have been wasted on a scheme that made little sense and had even less public support,” said state Sen. Mike Stack.

The governor’s administration said that the procedure did begin talks about lottery improvements, which are needed. The lottery provides funding for programs targeted to helping elderly residents. With the population of seniors in the state increasing, “we don't have a predictable and reliable, sustainable, revenue stream,” said Jay Pagni, spokesman for the governor. “The need is totally outstripping our ability to pay for it.”

This isn’t the last discussion of the lottery for Pennsylvania, as the state senate will hold hearings this month to determine whether keno-style gambling would be expanded or other lottery options be added to the lottery system.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement