Illinois gives lottery winners IOUs

The state lottery department indicated it had to lower the payout threshold even more because there has been no break in the budget fight between Rauner and Democrats controlling the state legislature.

The lottery has been delaying payments to big winners since the current fiscal year started on July 1.

If you’ve won more than $600, you will experience a “delay in payments”, meaning you won’t see a check until the Lottery’s check writing account will be replenished. The state is in its fourth month without a spending plan.

The policy previously only applied to those with winnings over $25,000. Anyone with winnings over $600 will need to wait to collect the money at a later date, NBC News reported Wednesday. The lawsuit seeks to force the lottery to pay winners of more than $25,000 with 5 percent interest and asks that the lottery be barred from paying its administrative or operational costs until the winners receive their prizes. It quotes Homer Glen resident Rhonda Rasche, who’d won $50,000 on a Crossword ticket, exclaiming “This is awesome!” “If I was the one selling raffle tickets and I didn’t pay, I would be sued or in jail or both”. The lawsuit alleges dozens await more than $288 million in prizes. But the impasse has led to an immediate cash shortage, altering the way her office will dole out payments to the system.