HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A key anti-gambling legislator has cautioned Gov. Tom Corbett against accepting a bid from a British firm to manage the $3.5 billion Pennsylvania Lottery without addressing lawmakers’ concerns.
Rep. Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, said in a letter to the Republican governor on Thursday that he is concerned that Camelot Global Services will usher in a gambling expansion that could hurt families, and added that such a gambling expansion requires lawmakers’ approval.
“There are enough dysfunctional families struggling in the commonwealth,” Clymer wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press. “This proposal to extend gambling will only worsen this situation. Accelerating the privatization process will create more questions than answers.”
Until now, Republicans have been largely quiet about Corbett’s exploration of hiring Camelot Global Services on a 20- to 30-year contract to manage one of the nation’s largest lotteries. That has left the governor largely on his own to counter opposition from Democratic lawmakers, state Treasurer Rob McCord, and a lawsuit by the state employees’ labor union.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment.
Bringing the process to a successful conclusion will be a key test on privatization for Corbett, who promised when he ran for governor that he would look to privatize state services. Just two states have moved to privatize management of their state lotteries, Illinois and Indiana.
Administration officials maintain they have the authority to expand lottery gambling, and Corbett says he will only hire Camelot if he believes the company will bring in more lottery profit than the state employees who currently run it. Corbett also suggested Thursday that he is leaning toward seeking legislative hearings. Meanwhile, his administration has been negotiating with Camelot to postpone the Dec. 31 deadline to accept or reject the company’s bid.
Clymer, elected last month to a 17th term, helped lead opposition to former Gov. Ed Rendell’s eventually successful drive to legalize casino gambling in Pennsylvania. In his letter, Clymer also raises questions over Rendell’s position as a senior adviser to Greenhill & Co., a New York-based financial adviser to the Corbett administration that stands to make millions of dollars if Corbett accepts Camelot’s bid.
Rendell did not immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment.
Camelot runs the national lottery in the United Kingdom.
