Illinois Lottery will pay winners starting Dec. 14
Funds provided through Senate Bill 2039, which Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law Dec. 7, will allow the Illinois Lottery to resume paying winning ticket holders.
Illinois is on month six with no budget, but now it’s at least set to pay out lottery winnings – something the state hasn’t done for almost two months for winnings worth more than $600.
Officials will process new claims beginning Dec. 14, according to NBC Chicago.
Because of the state’s failure to pass a balanced budget, some lottery payouts have been stalled since July 1.
“The lottery is a state agency like many others, and we’re obviously affected by the budget situation,” Illinois Lottery spokesman Steve Rossi said to the Chicago Tribune in August. “Since the legal authority is not there for the comptroller to disburse payments, those payments are delayed.”
Since Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law Senate Bill 2039 on Dec. 7, $3.1 billion is available to not only fund payments to lottery winners, but also local governments, highway departments and domestic violence shelters, among others.
Illinois is holding upward of $80 million in lottery winnings – that’s what Tom Zimmerman, the attorney representing Illinoisans who have not yet received their winnings in a lawsuit against the state, shared with radio reporter Greg Bishop.
“Zimmerman said a federal judge entered an order [Dec. 2] that tells the state to segregate winnings and interest on those winnings in a separate fund to ensure the funds aren’t used elsewhere,” according to Bishop.
Zimmerman has two clients: One with a winning ticket worth $50,000 and another winner with a ticket worth $250,000, filed a lawsuit Sept. 9 seeking to stop Illinois from selling tickets for winnings it can’t pay out, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Unfortunately for Illinoisans, even though politicians passed a bill to fund the state’s lottery-payout obligations, they’re no closer to passing a balanced budget.
The Illinois General Assembly did pass a state budget in May, but it was unbalanced to the tune of $4 billion, and the governor vetoed it. Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed legislation that funds Illinois schools, and many other state spending items have been mandated by consent decrees or pushed piecemeal through the courts.
But Illinoisans across the state continue to suffer as many in the General Assembly refuse to do the right thing and pass a balanced budget the state can afford, instead of resorting to deficit spending. With more than $100 billion in government-worker pension debt and $6.9 billion in unpaid bills, more of the same won’t work.
Rauner expects that the state won’t have a budget until January 2016.