Pa. lottery deal gets another extension

HARRISBURG - The Corbett administration's embattled deal with a British firm to run the Pennsylvania Lottery will remain alive - at least for another three weeks.

Administration officials announced Friday that Camelot Global Services has agreed to keep its bid valid through March 18th.

The extension was necessary because state Attorney General Kathleen Kane, whose office reviews all state contracts, last week ruled that the lottery deal violates the state constitution.

Among other things, Kane said that the contract with Camelot, which runs Britain's national lottery, usurps the authority of the legislature to regulate and manage the Pennsylvania's lottery.

This is the second bid extension since Kane's ruling, which struck a near-fatal blow to months of efforts by the Republican governor to seal the lottery deal.

The most recent extension will give Corbett a few more weeks to decide whether he will challenge Kane's ruling in court.

The stakes are high. The Pennsylvania Lottery in the last fiscal year recorded more than $3.5 billion in sales and sent more than $1 billion in profit to programs that help the elderly.

The administration says rapid growth of the state's senior population necessitates exploring ways to boost that profit. Across the life of its proposed 20-year contract, Camelot would guarantee profit of $34 billion.

Even if Corbett manages to get the deal back on track, another challenge awaits in court - from Democratic legislators and the union that represents lottery employees.