HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Corbett administration announced late Friday that it would award to a British firm a contract to privatize the management of the Pennsylvania Lottery.
The announcement came just days before a state Senate committee was scheduled to hold a hearing on what has become the administration's most aggressive foray into privatizing state services.
While the contract with Camelot Global Services was not yet formally signed, the administration issued what it called a "notice of award." Though not a binding agreement, it puts Pennsylvania squarely on course to become the third state, behind Indiana and Illinois, to hire a private lottery manager.
Under the proposal, Camelot would guarantee profits totaling $34 billion over the life of the 20-year contract.
A formal contract signature could come within a week. In the meantime, lottery employees were informed Friday afternoon of Gov. Corbett's intent to award the contract to Camelot, which runs Britain's national lottery.
For months, Corbett has been working behind the scenes to bring in a company to manage the lottery, which last fiscal year recorded more than $3.5 billion in sales and more than $1 billion in profit that went toward programs that benefit senior citizens. The administration has argued that a rapidly growing senior population in Pennsylvania has made it necessary to explore ways to make the lottery more profitable.
On the political front, the lottery-privatization push has come to be viewed as a test of the administration's negotiating mettle. The thinking was that if Corbett could seal the deal, it would instill confidence in his ability to privatize other services, a key campaign promise.
The administration's late-in-the-day decision was swiftly criticized by some legislators, who had planned on holding a hearing Monday on privatizing the lottery's management. Democrats in particular called it a shameful end run, maintaining it flew in the face of the administration's promises of transparency.
"To have this action take place right before a hearing... shows real contempt, not just for the legislature but for the public," Sen. Rob Teplitz (D., Dauphin) said Friday, minutes after word leaked that Corbett was going through with the deal.
Dave Fillman, executive director of AFSCME Council 13, which represents about 170 unionized lottery workers, called it "a bad deal" for state employees and Pennsylvania seniors, "especially when most of the nation is talking about trying to stop the outsourcing of jobs. Now, 170 of my members could likely lose their jobs to a foreign corporation."
Even some Republicans said they were disappointed in the decision to push forward before legislators had a chance to hold a hearing and get answers to lingering questions about the deal.
"It's a bit of an affront," said Drew Crompton, counsel and chief of staff to Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson), who at times has been at odds with Corbett. "The bottom line is, there is no harm in public vetting. People talk about transparency, and this would have been the perfect opportunity for transparency. It's not like they didn't know the hearing was coming."
Jay Pagni, spokesman for the governor's budget office, said issuing the notice of the award actually encouraged transparency - by freeing up administration officials during Monday's hearing before the Senate Finance Committee to disclose details of the deal that they would not have otherwise been able to discuss because of procurement rules.
"The issuance of a 'notice of award' officially ends any type of confidentiality or nondisclosure agreements, and will allow the commonwealth to provide specific details and answer questions posed by the committee," Pagni said.
As for Camelot, the company said in a statement Friday that it intended to keep "as many current lottery employees as possible" and to increase the number of employees in Pennsylvania overall.
"We know the state has placed enormous trust in giving us responsibility for its lottery, and we intend to work tirelessly to earn that trust," the statement said. "We are confident in our projections on growing responsibly the Pennsylvania Lottery over the next 20 years and guaranteeing the economic future for seniors programs."
Notwithstanding Friday's decision to award Camelot the contract, privatizing the management still faces some obstacles.
AFSCME has sued to block the contract, arguing that Corbett lacks authority to privatize the lottery without legislative approval. Seven Democratic legislators have challenged the deal in court as well. The union has also filed a grievance, along with an unfair-labor-practice charge, before the state's labor relations board.
Then there is Treasurer Rob McCord. The Democrat has threatened to withhold payments to Camelot because, during the negotiations, the administration said it expected Camelot's profit to be boosted by introducing keno terminals in bars and restaurants - a move that some see as an expansion of legalized gambling that would require legislative approval.
Fillman, the union leader, said, "This is not over yet."
Not Good.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Ex Governor Rendell according to some reports will make millions from this deal if approved.
In my opinion I think this privatization is not going to happen.
Maybe they're tired of dealing with the union crybabies always whining for more and more and more.
Unions have chased more jobs out of this country than anything.
And public sector unions are always a huge disaster sooner or later.
Sounds like it already happened.
Because the state is admitting.... "We cant run a business efficiently" and they are absolutely right.
The government should never be trying to run a business in the first place.
I haven't cared what PA does since I heard that those Philly Cheese Steaks are made with Cheez Whiz. Barf... gag... puke...
They call it a Philly Gee Whiz Steak..........
It's a crime against humanity is what it is.
I'm gettin' nauseous thinkin' about it.
WTF!!!! Tell me it ain't so.....
Yeah dallas, I saw it on one of them food shows on tv, that's what they use.
let me get this straight they are going to have a British company privatizing and handling an American lottery. well i am sure glad i do not live in pennsylvania. i bet the british company does not even know anything about how american state lotteries are run. i see the british messing it up some how. i can also see how the company is going to want millions of dollars from the sale of lottery tickets. i say leave it to the americans.
Pa. should get out of the liquor biz. first.
Naw, the better places use the white American deli sliced cheese,
just those 2 most famous places in south philly use that orange gunk.
LOL!! They were Drinking the Liquor when they made this decision! Probably imported from Britian as well!.
Seriously, we (the residence) of PA are about to see a state taxation on our winnings now state wide. Trust me its the next thing PA will do since its a foreign investor managing the lottery. Say hello to 7% tax ....
No good will come of this for the supposed "dept of Aging" programs .....
When I was in high school I worked for a deli that made cheese steaks and subs (aka hoagies).
We used chip steak a Cleafield American cheese not cheese whiz which is processed cheeze.
Then the owner switched over to a boxed brand which was just as good if not better.
I my opinion our cheese steaks were the absolute best. What makes the cheese steak other than the meat an cheese is the steak roll. Got to have the best steak roll.
I think you can still purchase chip steak.
Here is how you make a mouth watering cheese steak. You have different options. We made mushroom cheese steaks, pizza steaks, pepper steaks (sweet peppers)
For onion lovers we would first place the onions on a flat grill surface. Place the steak on top if the onions. Once the steak started cooking baby it was time to chop the steak and the onions. Once the steak was fully cooked we would lay on the Clearfield American cheese on top and let the cheese melt. Place the fresh roll on top of the steak an onions then use the spatula to scoop the steak, cheese and roll. Next came the ketchup or whatever toppings you wanted. Tomatoes, lettuce, peppers.
If you prefer a pizza steak we mixed in the pizza sauce while the steak and onions where cooking then added provolone cheese.
Yumm!! Almost feel like going aout and gettin one now.
I did this for almost 4 years part time while in high school.
I'm commencin' to get hungry my ownself after that, winsum. Thanks.
The British comapny set to run this lottery will be doubling the cost of one its most popular lotteries in the UK in the autumn. This news appears to have been announced around the same time the deal was signed in the US.
So this is a strategy to double the price of lottery tix?
Playing lotteries outside the country (unless it is in person) is considered "illegal" but running them from outside of the country is ok? Something seems very wrong-to me anyway.
For what reason they would like to privatize Lottery? Is it possible?
Dont be surprised if that happens to the Pennsylvania lottery or they'll restructure the game in some way.
Over the last few years they extended the Thunderball from a 5/34 to 5/39.They increased the cost of the Euromillions from £1.50 to £2.00 and extended it from a 5/50 & 2/9 draw to a 5/50 & 2/11 draw - you also automatically get entered into a £1million raffle where only ONE person can win in the whole of Europe!
Now with the every popular Lotto 6/49 draw they say they will increase the jackpot prize but at the expense of reducing winnings from lower tier prizes to almost half what you would normally receive. The company said they did this because consumers wanted a change but consumers dont recall being asked the question in the first instance.
Camelot is a private company that is responsible for running the UK lotteries. They provide the machinery and the infrastructure that allow people to play it. They take a small cut from each ticket sold awhile the government takes an amount as tax from each ticket sold. The rest goes to the prize fund and socalled good causes.
So did sales drop off after the "by popular demand" change?