Pa. unveils $34B, 20-year bid to privatize lottery

Gov. Tom Corbett's administration says the firm that runs the national lottery in the United Kingdom is promising to produce more than $34 billion in profits over 20 years if it manages the Pennsylvania Lottery.

The administration said Tuesday it'll weigh the offer by Camelot Global Services. No other company is bidding to run Pennsylvania's $3.5 billion lottery system, one of the nation's largest. It would represent an annual lottery profit increase of about 3 to 4 percent a year.

 The administration says expanding lottery gambling to keno and online games will be crucial to producing more revenue for programs for the elderly.

Lottery sales increased last fiscal year by 8.5 percent and opponents of privatization question why Corbett would pay a private company when sales are already increasing steadily.