State Rep.: Private Lottery Management Will Provide Stability

Friday's announcement regarding the Pennsylvania Lottery potentially being turned over to a private management company has resulted in a lot of discussion among readers. 

Patch reached out to Rep. Thomas Quigley (R-146) to see what the legislator had to say about the issue. 

"The best thing about this is guaranteed annual profit," Quigley said. 

The lottery,  currently fully run by the state, would be managed by a private firm that would be required to commit to profit thresholds. The state would retain ownership of the lottery. 

Friday's announcement was "the third step in about a six-step process," said Quigley. 

The contract to manage the lottery must go through a bidding process much like other state contracts. 

"Profits go up and down with the whim of the people," Quigley said. "If the lottery has a bad year because people aren't playing, it affects the programs [that the lottery funds]."

Quigley said that if the lottery reaches the right levels of profit, then the state will not have to "dip into the general fund to fund those programs." 

The state's key terms for the contract include guaranteed profits and a payment of $150 million cash as collateral towards those profits. 

"In tough economic times, we want to still fund these programs," Quigley said. "We can provide stability [for these programs] if the lottery stays profitable."

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