The State Journal-Register kicks off our review:
Potential cronyism regarding the Illinois Lottery contract for the governor’s keno proposal forced the administration to change course Thursday, while fending off similar concerns of another lottery agreement.
News that John Wyma, a former congressional aide to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was acting as a lobbyist for lottery contractor GTECH Corp. apparently sparked the administration to seek competitive bids for the potential keno contract.
“The governor’s office felt it was important for due diligence,” Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said. […]
Still more favoritism fodder arose Thursday. The Illinois Lottery’s contractor for its instant, scratch-off games - Scientific Games International - has ties to a Blagojevich fundraiser. Milan Petrovic is president of Advanced Practical Solutions, which serves as the lobbyist for Scientific Games International.
From the Sun-Times:
A $76,000 campaign donor to Gov. Blagojevich could reap a windfall if the state authorizes keno wagering in bars and restaurants by expanding the Illinois Lottery.
IGOR the Watchdog Corp. — whose Springfield lobbyist is a former Blagojevich staffer and fund-raiser — is the lone subcontractor used by GTECH Corp., a Rhode Island firm that holds the lottery’s most valuable contract covering Lotto and similar games. IGOR is responsible for installing and maintaining GTECH’s instant ticket machines.
GTECH has been pitching the idea of adding keno to the lottery’s offerings for several years and even submitted keno revenue projections to the governor’s office. Though Blagojevich plans to put the keno contract out for bid, GTECH is considered a front-runner because of its existing deal with the lottery and its track record operating 10 of the 12 lottery keno games in place nationwide. […]
A potential GTECH rival could surface in the bidding if Blagojevich’s plan takes flight.
The company is called Scientific Games, which provides the scratch-off lottery games in Illinois. Scientific Games is represented in Springfield by Milan Petrovic, a Blagojevich fund-raiser, and donated $10,000 to the governor’s campaign in 2004.
And the Tribune:
On Thursday, Wyma insisted he has never had a conversation with the governor or the administration about keno or GTECH, saying, “No, absolutely not.”
But an administration spokeswoman on Thursday acknowledged that Wyma in December had hosted a Washington reception for Blagojevich.
A co-host of that reception for Blagojevich was a controversial former GTECH lobbyist named Ben Barnes. A former Texas lieutenant governor, Barnes was caught up in a political storm in the mid-1990s in which critics complained about how he used his clout with that state’s lottery officials on behalf of the company.
Barnes also was in the news in 2004, when he claimed in an interview with former CBS anchor Dan Rather that he had used his influence in 1968 to get George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard.
The company says it has had no connection to Barnes for years.