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Corbett Administration Considers Re-Bidding Lottery Privatization Deal

The British firm that's been waiting on its bid to privatize certain functions of the Pennsylvania Lottery may soon have some competition.

The Corbett administration is considering starting the bid process over for the plan, now that state lawmakers are considering legislation to pave the way to outsource the management of the lottery.

Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to do it without their approval has been in limbo ever since it was struck down by the attorney general last February.

Since lawmakers are tinkering with the conditions of the deal, Revenue Secretary Dan Meuser said it may need to be re-bid.

"We want to make sure that there's really nothing controversial about continuing with this bid, with the new legislation, and with some of the added provisions that would be part of a management agreement," said Meuser, who has overseen the privatization deal.

British firm Camelot Global Services was the only company to place a bid on a privatization plan. Earlier this year, Democrats urged the governor to re-bid the deal, saying any changes to the original contract signed last January trigger the need to restart the competition for the project. Camelot's bid expires at the end of the year, but it has been extended several times.

Democrats have urged the governor to re-bid the deal for the past several months.

"I think any changes to the original contract trigger a need to re-bid the lottery privatization contract," Sen. Mike Stack (D-Philadelphia) wrote in a March letter to Corbett.

State Treasurer Rob McCord, who has been staunchly against the privatization of the lottery's management, said in a press release last week the project will probably need to be re-bid.