HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The third of Pennsylvania’s three statewide row officers is now questioning Gov. Tom Corbett’s stalled plan to hire a private manager for the Pennsylvania Lottery.
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Tuesday that he has directed his staff to review Corbett’s $3.4 million tab for consultants in his bid to hire London-based Camelot Global Services.
DePasquale said lottery funds are supposed to support programs for the elderly, not end up in the bank accounts of law firms and consultants. He also joined a call by Treasurer Rob McCord for Corbett to abandon the pursuit of Camelot, the British national lottery operator.
The pressure built as Corbett faced a Tuesday deadline to decide whether to again extend Camelot’s bid or drop it.
In February, Attorney General Kathleen Kane, whose office reviews state contracts, rejected the contract as illegal. Corbett has since struck a series of agreements with Camelot to keep its bid alive, although his administration has not resubmitted a revised contract to Kane or publicly asked the Legislature to take action to resolve the legal conflicts.
Meanwhile, McCord has threatened not to pay Camelot if he was not satisfied that its plan to expand lottery gambling was legal.
Corbett had offered Camelot a 20-year contract, saying its promise of $34 billion in profits over that period was higher and more stable than the lottery’s current public management could deliver to meet growing demand for services for the elderly.
Camelot could charge hundreds of millions of dollars in management fees in the deal.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
