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Title: Unlucky winners of the Illinois State lottery are given IOU's instead of their winnings after the agency admits 'it cannot payout' due to the state's budget problems
Source:
Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... lays-payment-winnings-600.html
Published: Oct 15, 2015
Author: Associated Press and Daily Mail Online R
Post Date: 2015-10-17 09:05:51 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 397
Comments: 4
It's the prize that millions of people dream of scooping every day. But winners of the Illinois state lottery were in for a nasty shock when they were given IOU's and not their cash due to the ongoing state budget impasse, which has left the agency out of money. The problems have come about because lawmakers haven't passed a budget and so lottery officials don't have legal authority to do payouts. Officials announced that people who had won more than $600 in the Illinois Lottery would not get their money right away. Scroll down for video Winners of the Illinois state lottery were in for a nasty shock when they were given IOU's and not their cash due to the ongoing state budget impasse, which has left the agency out of money Officials announced that people who had won more than $600 in the Illinois Lottery would not get their money right away Last month, the Illinois comptroller's office said that without a budget for the July 1 fiscal year, the office didn't have the authority to write checks of more than $25,000 and payments would be delayed. Lottery officials said Wednesday that they anticipated the agency's check writing account would be exhausted the next day and that there was no legal authority to replenish it. As of Thursday morning the account — which is used to pay winnings between $601 and $24,999 — was empty, officials said. Prizes $600 and below are paid by retailers using money from ticket sales and will continue to be awarded. 'Once a budget is passed in Springfield, all outstanding claims will be paid,' Illinois Lottery in a statement. Adam Denniston won $1000 in a $20 scratch off game. He was overjoyed when he realized that he'd won the money because he'd just been kicked out of his house. But was upset when he heard about the delay in payments. 'We figured we'd have some money in our pockets and we just got kicked out of our house, so, were going to use that for the down payment on another place.' Adam Denniston, left, won $1000 in a $20 scratch off game. He was overjoyed when he realized that he'd won the money because he'd just been kicked out of his house. But was upset when he heard about the delay Two lottery winners have filed a federal lawsuit against the Illinois Lottery for stopping payouts of prizes above $25,000 because of the budget impasse. The lawsuit seeks to force the lottery to pay winners of more than $25,000 with five percent interest and asks that the lottery be barred from paying its administrative or operational costs until the winners receive their prizes. The lawsuit alleges dozens await more than $288 million in prizes. Wednesday's announcement came the same day that state Comptroller Leslie Munger said the budget impasse means next month's $560 million payment to Illinois' pension system will be delayed. She said retirees will still receive benefit checks as scheduled. But the impasse has led to an immediate cash shortage, altering the way her office will dole out payments to the system. Despite the budget impasse, money is still being allocated through state laws and consent decrees at last year's rates while less revenue is coming in. 
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#1. To: cranky (#0)
Yeah, he couldn't make the payments because he was using that money to buy lottery tickets.
He probably smoked dope too.
#3. To: Fred Mertz (#2)
And posted on forums all day.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest"Adam Denniston, left, won $1000 in a $20 scratch off game. He was overjoyed when he realized that he'd won the money because he'd just been kicked out of his house."
#2. To: misterwhite (#1)
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