Gov. Rauner and the Illinois House of Representatives support a bill to release lottery winnings, but Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are standing in the way. Now Illinois Lottery winners may not be paid until 2016.

by Hilary Gowins Yelvington | Illinois Policy Institute

The Illinois House of Representatives passed legislation Nov. 10 to pay lottery winners. That’s a shrewd public-relations maneuver for politicians who are five months late in coming up with a balanced budget, but in reality Illinois isn’t likely to pay winners what they’re owed any time soon.

Though House Bill 4305 passed the House, state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, filed a “motion to reconsider,” which means the bill cannot move out of the House until she removes the barrier. Once that barrier is removed, the bill still needs approval from the Illinois Senate, which is not scheduled to meet again in 2015. Of course, if the lottery bill is more than a PR stunt, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, can call the Senate to session at any time to vote on the bill to make good on at least one of the state’s unfulfilled promises.

As it stands, the passage of HB 4305 by the House leaves lottery winners no better off than they were before, when the state announced it couldn’t pay winnings until Illinois enacted a budget. It remains to be seen whether the action in Springfield will kickstart ticket sales, which are currently sitting at two-year lows.

But why is the state continuing to sell lottery tickets at all?

Two winners, 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.

The Wall Street Journal reported: “The lawsuit seeks to have the lottery suspend sales of tickets that might have winnings of more than $25,000, pay all big-ticket winners immediately with interest, and suspend the operating expenses of the lottery. It also seeks class-action status on behalf of the dozens of people it claims are also awaiting payments.”

Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, the state should stop selling tickets with prize values it can’t pay out. Otherwise, those with potentially life-changing winning tickets will continue to be left hanging.

Unfortunately for Illinoisans, lottery payments aren’t the only commitment the state isn’t keeping, as the budget stalemate continues into its fifth month past the July 1 deadline.

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 the Democrats in the General Assembly, with their supermajorities in both chambers, refuse to do the right thing and pass a balanced budget the state can afford. With more than $100 billion in pension debt and $6 billion in unpaid bills, more of the same deficit spending won’t work. It’s time to stop the bleeding. Until then, people wanting to cash in life-changing lottery tickets, the poor and disabled, and taxpayers across the state will lose out.