CWA Challenges NJ Gov. Christie's Lotto Privatization

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) moved forward with his plan to privatize the state lottery last week, awarding a 15-year contract to a private firm to run the lottery's marketing and sales operations.

"At every turn, the Christie administration has steadfastly refused to answer questions and been secretive in trying to slip through their risky, unpopular lottery privatization scheme," said Seth Hahn, CWA's New Jersey legislative director.

Hahn said CWA is planning to take legal action to prevent the privatization.

"True to form, they've decided to release their decision to award a 15-year contract at 4 p.m. on a Friday in the hopes that no one will notice," he said. "This short-sighted, illegal, politically-connected deal needs to be examined in the light of day. As such, we are contacting the head of New Jersey State Lottery immediately to challenge the Christie administration's giveaway, and will take every action at our legal disposal to stop it. This lottery privatization scheme is bad for taxpayers, bad for small businesses, bad for jobs, and illegal."

Read more about the deal here. For more information on lottery privatization and efforts to stop it, visit www.BigGambleNJ.com.