Request to Delay Lottery Pact Rejected : Gambling: Commission chairman denies plea by assemblyman to put off deal. Instead, the panel votes unanimously to award the $400-million contract to the firm already running games.

Despite a legislative request to delay action, the California Lottery Commission has formally awarded a lucrative contract to the Rhode Island company that already runs the lottery’s computerized games.

The commission voted unanimously Wednesday to award the $400-million contract to run the games to the GTECH Corp., the only company that responded to the lottery’s request for bids.

Commission Chairman John Price rejected a plea from Curtis Tucker Jr. (D-Inglewood), chairman of the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee, to have the panel delay awarding the contract until next week to allow more time for committee inquiries.

The lottery’s bidding practices came into question after competitors complained that GTECH had an unfair advantage to win the contract. The complaint led to an inquiry by a special audit team appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson, who eventually concluded there was no wrongdoing but that the audit raised troubling questions about the lottery’s manner of handling major contracts.

Tucker’s committee wanted the contract delayed while it completed its own investigations.

But Price said that every week the contract is delayed means a loss of revenue to state schools, which receive at least 34% of the lottery’s earnings.

Tucker said the committee would continue an examination of the bidding process.

Two other companies said they did not bid on the contract because the lottery set a deadline for meeting its specifications that only GTECH could meet. Because GTECH already was established in California, they said it could perform more quickly because it had a staff and storage facilities in place and an intimate knowledge of the lottery.

Lottery Director Sharon Sharp, who recommended acceptance of GTECH’s bid, acknowledged the time schedule was “aggressive,” but she said it was not unusual for the industry.

The contract requires GTECH to install a new computer network, including 13,000 terminals, to run the Super Lotto, Fantasy 5, Decco, Daily 3 and Keno games. The contract is initially for five years, but the lottery has the option of extending it another five.

Sharp said the contract would pay GTECH about $203 million for the first five years, or approximately $63 million less than the amount the company submitted in its bid. She said the lottery was able to negotiate a lower price after it discovered GTECH was the only bidder.

The Assembly committee is expected to examine the cost of the contract to determine if the lottery got a fair price.