Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Fires Private Lottery Operator

Gov. Pat Quinn today announced that he was terminating a 10-year privatization agreement his administration executed with Northstar to operate the Illinois Lottery, a $2 billion a year operation, sever years ahead of schedule according to Crain's Chicago Business. Northstar is a joint venture between GTECH, the private operator of the Hoosier Lottery, and Scientific Games. Those two companies competed to win the Hoosier Lottery prize during the end of the Daniels' administration, and when GTECH won, Scientific Games cried foul.

Despite growing sales, Northstar's relationship with the Quinn administration grew rocky after the private operator failed to meet revenue targets for three straight years. Illinois Lottery Director Michael Jones feuded constantly with Northstar, a fact Northstar blamed on his prior work for a competing company that lost out to Northstar. Crain's reports that it's unclear exactly how the contract will be wound down. The parties have been spending most of the summer in discussions about their break-up. Preliminary figures released by the Hoosier Lottery indicated that GTECH fell short by $36 million dollars after its first full year operating the state's lottery.