That bid apparently failed, with a Corbett administration official telling lottery employees Friday afternoon that Camelot would take over; the announcement was confirmed later Friday. It wasn't immediately clear how many Pennsylvania Lottery employees would remain; the Philadelphia Inquirer quoted Camelot Global Services as saying it would retain as many as possible.
The deal immediately created a wave of criticism, from some state lawmakers and also the AFSCME Council 13 that put together the employees' proposal to manage the lottery. AFSCME said the Camelot plan would take away us$ 1.5 billion from the state's seniors that would normally be funded by the lottery.
"It's just incredible that the governor would ignore the General Assembly and the thousands of Pennsylvanians we've heard from who understands that this is a bad deal for our seniors," AFSCME Council 13 Executive Director Dave Fillman said in a prepared statement.