Illinois lottery contracts smells funny ?

CHICAGO — With less than two weeks before Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn awards a lucrative, first-of-its-kind contract for the private management of the state's $2 billion-a-year lottery, some are criticizing the selection process as too secretive and questioning whether it favors one powerful bidder. Lottery officials have released little information, refusing until this week to name any companies that bid for the 10-year contract by the July 30 deadline and declining to identify members of the committee reviewing the bids. On Monday, officials named only the two finalists: Northstar Lottery Group, a partnership of three companies that each already hold Illinois Lottery contracts, and Camelot Group, which runs the United Kingdom's lottery. The "largely invisible" process has fueled suspicions in a state with a reputation for political dealmaking, said Andy Shaw, executive director of the Better Government Association. "Widespread fears of this being a wired, inside deal are very legitimate," Shaw said. "This is Illinois, and three connected groups teamed up to leverage their clout; that has set off alarm bells." The two bidders must submit final proposals on Friday that will outline how they would be paid, officials said. They will give public presentations on their bids Wednesday – one week before Quinn must choose a winner for a contract that some estimate could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Lottery spokesman Tracy Owens said information on all companies that bid or expressed initial interest will not be released until Quinn makes his selection because revealing such information before that would "potentially undermine the integrity of the process and potentially taint the outcome." Quinn defended his administration Friday, saying lottery officials have followed the law "to the T" and have encouraged vigorous competition. But observers say the names of all bidders and evaluation committee members should be public. "The fact that it's not gives the appearance of impropriety," said Joan Zielinski, a lecturer in marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and director of the New Jersey lottery in 1985 and 1986. "Transparency does not taint the process." see more on this Illnois lottery scandal