Franks: State Should Take Back Control of Lottery [AUDIO]

John Gregory  -- Illinois Radio Network

With the state cutting ties with the private vendor running the Illinois Lottery, one state lawmaker says it’s time to bring it back in-house.

State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Marengo) says the governor made the right decision to terminate the contract with Northstar Lottery Group, which had been selected to manage the lottery in 2010. Franks doesn’t think selecting another private vendor to run it is the right move, at least for now:

“I’d like to bring it in-house,” Franks said, “and then determine whether we need to have a private manager sometime in the future.”

Northstar hadn’t met its promised sales targets, falling short of projections by nearly $480 million over the past three years.  Franks says at the same time the Illinois Lottery experienced a drop in sales from 2012 to 2013, 29 other state lotteries without a private manager saw sales increase.