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Corbett extends lottery privatization plan

HARRISBURG Gov. Corbett will keep alive his bid to privatize the management of the Pennsylvania Lottery at least until the end of the year.

HARRISBURG Gov. Corbett will keep alive his bid to privatize the management of the Pennsylvania Lottery at least until the end of the year.

The administration announced Tuesday that it would extend London-based Camelot Global Services' bid until Dec. 31, giving the governor until then to salvage the deal.

Corbett's privatization plan was thwarted in February by Attorney General Kathleen Kane, whose office reviewed the contract and declared parts of it violated the state constitution.

This week, Treasurer Rob McCord, a Democrat who hopes to challenge Corbett in next year's election, called on the governor to scrap the contract, saying the administration had spent nearly $3.5 million on a "misguided" deal.

And on Tuesday, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said he had directed his staff to scrutinize the $3.5 million.

"Funds from the Pennsylvania Lottery are supposed to help older Pennsylvanians with prescriptions, transportation, home-delivered meals and property tax and rent rebates, not to fatten the coffers of law firms and private consultants over a lottery privatization contract that may never see the light of day," DePasquale, a Democrat, said in a statement.

The governor's office said Tuesday that extending the bid would not cost taxpayers more money.