Indiana Lottery privatization on hold

Lottery Post:

"Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday he is putting off but not giving up on his hopes of privatizing the Hoosier Lottery and wants a yearlong, statewide 'conversation' on how best to spend the $2 billion or more the lease could bring.

Daniels said 10 companies, mostly American firms, have submitted nonbinding bids to lease the Hoosier Lottery. Half of those, he said, 'are north of a billion and a half,' with two offers 'well over twice as big' as the $1 billion the state had estimated it could receive.

But Daniels acknowledged that his hopes of winning Indiana General Assembly approval before the legislative session ends April 29 are over.
The biggest reason: House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has been adamantly opposed."