Last month, on the heels of Illinois lottery officials’ announcement that payouts of prizes of 0 or more would be delayed, sales for most tickets, including instant games and Powerball, fell by about million, to 5 million, the lowest point this year, compared to 6 million in September.
March sales hit $260 million, the highest for 2015, according to data obtained by the Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.
In August, lottery officials said winners of prizes of $25,000 or more could not be paid immediately because due to the state budget impasse, there was no authority to write checks from the prize account. Just two months later, lottery officials lowered the no-prizes-paid threshold to $600. As a result, Illinois lottery ticket sales have plummeted. Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and Democratic lawmakers remain deadlocked on the budget after five months of negotiations. Lottery spokesman Steve Rossi said, “This has had a direct effect on the Illinois Lottery’s ability to pay its winners, as there is no legislative authority for the comptroller, or the lottery, to disburse funds.”
Legislation that would authorize winners to be paid from specific tax funds recently passed with overwhelming support in the House. However, due to a parliamentary maneuver, it cannot move on to the Senate, which needs to pass the measure but may not meet again until 2016.
Lottery sales fluctuate throughout the year. Analysts track trends through instant scratch-off game sales, which brought in $173 million in March and fell to less than $139 million in October. Powerball sales also dropped from about $15 million in sales in September to $6.5 million last month. Nearly 40 percent of Halloween Raffle tickets, offered from September through October, remained unsold.
A group of winners have sued the state in federal court for payment of lottery winnings plus interest. The suit also stipulates that the Illinois Lottery be barred from selling tickets until it has the authority to pay prizes. The winners’ attorney also wants money owed to Illinois residents who play multistate games held in an interest-bearing account, not by the Illinois Lottery.
