Monday, September 14, 2015

Lottery Privatized Under Christie Falls $136 Million Short


Excerpts
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two years after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie privatized much of the state's lottery operations, a big payoff remains out of sight.

Higher costs associated with the private company that Christie hired, Northstar New Jersey, have cut the state's income for the second straight year, creating a $136 million shortfall in the state's 2015 budget, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. The results are poor enough that the state is entitled to fire the company if its performance doesn't improve in the current fiscal year.

The underperformance raises questions about the privatization strategy championed by Christie, who promoted lottery outsourcing as a way to shrink the government's payroll and bring in more cash.
Christie's push benefited some key political allies. During its ultimately successful pursuit of the state's business, Northstar New Jersey hired the communications firm of Christie campaign strategist Mike DuHaime. The law and lobbying firm of former Port Authority chairman David Samson received $460,000 for lobbying on behalf of Northstar between 2012 and the end of last year.

Entire article at
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/ap/lottery-privatized-under-christie-falls-million-short/article_6671ae11-cd0b-5f56-888e-6f322a7b7bf8.html

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That Samson fellow seems to have his finger in every pot

Anonymous said...

Hopefully, the people are getting smarter and stop wasting money on the lottery. What is not being though is that middle class and poor people have very little money to waste on lottery tickets. The economy is terrible on Main Street.

Anonymous said...

I think poor people often spend more money on tickets with the hope that their condition will change.