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Lottery board members are appointed by the governor’s office,
but during a Legislative Audit Commission meeting Tuesday,
lottery officials did not give a reason why there hasn’t been
any new appointments in nearly a year.
“We are not proactive but we are sort of interested in making
sure we have a board that has the ability to fulfill the
department’s needs so we have been able to work with that, with
the three board members that we have,” said Harold Mays, acting
director of the Illinois Lottery.
State Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said the board holds an
important position and should be fully staffed.
“The whole point of the board from my understanding is for
oversight, so if you don’t have a full board, that is a
problem,” McCombie said.
Camelot Illinois has been the private manager of the Illinois
Lottery since 2018 and has a ten-year contract. Former Chicago
Bears great Gary Fencik, a former lottery control board
chairman, told Crane’s Chicago Business it is time for a new
firm to run the lottery because it is clear Camelot can’t
maximize the value of the agency.
“For the last three fiscal years, the lottery has been managed
by a U.K. company owned by a Canadian pension fund,
optimistically named Camelot," Fencik wrote. "It is paid a $24
million fee each fiscal year. And all expenses. Camelot ranked
20th in lottery performance in fiscal 2021. While many state
lotteries have set all-time records each year since the pandemic
started, Camelot has missed our record FY13 revenue total by
about $40 million each year."
The Illinois Lottery this month announced sales of $1.7 billion
in the first six months of fiscal year 2022.
Lottery officials reported FY22 half-year sales were up 6% on
the previous six-month record. The lottery generated $431
million in operating income for the Common School Fund.
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