Harrisburg – Dec. 30, 2013 – Gov. Tom Corbett’s decision to discontinue his attempt to privatize the state Lottery is good news for Pennsylvania taxpayers and it aligns with repeated Senate Democratic calls for him to drop the plan and stop wasting resources, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa said today.
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Costa (D-Allegheny) was reacting to the governor’s announcement that his administration would not continue seeking an agreement with Camelot Global, LLC to privately manage the lottery.
Senate Democrats have been highly critical of the bid and the Corbett administration in its handling of the contract and the multiple extensions. They have said that the governor’s support of lottery privatization was wasteful of both time and money.
Last year, the Corbett administration awarded a contract to privately manage the Pennsylvania Lottery to Camelot Global, LLC. Earlier this year, Attorney General Kathleen Kane rejected the contract, citing instances where the proposal ran afoul of state statutes and constitutional provisions. The state Auditor General recently reported that the Corbett administration had spent, or contracted to spend, at least $4.5 million on the effort.
Costa’s statement is as follows:
“Throughout the process, Senate Democrats have been critical of the contract and the arrangement that the Corbett administration had with Camelot. Pennsylvania has an outstanding lottery that is efficiently and effectively operated by Pennsylvanians.
“There is simply not a good rationale or a responsible argument that the Corbett administration could offer that would justify privatizing the lottery in the manner they proposed. The Camelot proposal was unpopular, unwieldy and costly. It created questions when we should have been exploring answers to how we can help fund senior programs.
“Since the plan was first detailed, Senate Democrats asked tough questions and raised significant issues because we believe that the programs funded by the lottery are too important to be jeopardized.
“There are alternatives that would increase revenues to support senior programs without taking risks. In fact, Senate Democrats just unveiled a plan that would generate more than $1 billion in savings and revenues, a portion of which could be used to bolster senior programs and services.
“The best public policy and what makes most sense for taxpayers, seniors and the Lottery was for the governor to drop his arrangement with Camelot.”
The lottery reported record sales of $3.69 billion last year.
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