February 14, 2013
Seniors Laud Attorney General Kane for Rejecting State Lottery Privatization Deal
PA Alliance for Retired Americans urges Governor Corbett to work with Legislators to increase lottery revenue – and keep 100% of the profits here in PA
Jean Friday, President of the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans, released the following statement regarding the latest developments in the Lottery Privatization fiasco:
“Kudos to Attorney General Kathleen Kane for standing up for our Constitution, standing up for our workers and standing up for our seniors!
“Since the Governor first announced his scheme to privatize the state lottery, laying off hundreds of workers and splitting new profits with a foreign company, the PA Alliance for Retired Americans has made our opposition clear. We believe it would be better policy to allow our current lottery system to expand in the ways proposed by the British firm Camelot, thus allowing 100% of those expanded profits to benefit PA seniors.
“We knew the Governor’s idea was bad policy. Now we know our suspicions are confirmed that it is illegal as well. The Governor over-stepped his bounds when he executed this scheme without legislative approval. Furthermore, the agreement allowed for an expansion of gambling that ought to be legislated as well. The scope of gambling allowed in our state is an important consideration that has wide-ranging societal consequences. We need legislators, the Attorney General, the courts and the Governor involved in such decisions to reach the right consensus. Those checks and balances make sure no rash decisions do long term damage to our state.
“Instead of a prolonged legal fight, we urge the Governor to abandon privatization of the Lottery. If his goal was truly to raise revenue for seniors, he will set his sights on doing just that with our current system. Both the House Democratic Caucus and AFSCME Council 13 have put forth ideas to bring Lottery revenue to the point promised by Camelot. If we all work together, we can find the way forward to a more profitable Lottery that is run by Pennsylvanians for Pennsylvanians.
“Thank you, Attorney General Kane. Seniors across the Commonwealth should be grateful for your actions today.”
The Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans, led by President Jean Friday of Westmoreland County, has over 300,000 members and 144 local affiliates across the Commonwealth. PARA’s mission is to educate seniors and the public about retiree issues, and organize seniors to advocate for their interests in Harrisburg and Washington. To learn more, visit www.pennretiredamericans.org.
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