CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SACRAMENTO

The company that supplies the gaming system for the California State Lottery has upped its ante to $1 million in a campaign supporting Proposition 1C, which could greatly benefit the company by allowing the lottery to upgrade and expand its equipment.

GTECH is reporting a $750,000 contribution this week on top of $250,000 given earlier to a campaign committee it formed called Californians for Modernization.

Under its contract, GTECH was paid $46.2 million last year as its 1.36% share of sales and for software support, equipment and other services.

The Rhode Island firm’s current contract term expires in October but allows a four-year extension, which is expected to be approved by the lottery commission.

“Adopting best practices from other state lotteries benefits all Californians and helps our state budget by protecting against even higher taxes and preventing more cuts to schools, children’s healthcare, police and fire,” said GTECH representative Roger Salazar in explaining the firm’s contribution.

If the ballot measure passes and the lottery modernization leads to sales of $6 billion a year as the state projects, GTECH’s share under the contract would grow to $77.4 million, officials said.

That payoff for influencing the California election angers Jim Butler, executive director of the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion.

“It’s outrageous, but unfortunately it’s legal,” Butler said. “I’m just really disappointed that an outside business that has a contract with the lottery is coming in to support 1C in order to benefit directly from their contribution.”

-- Patrick McGreevy