The Illinois lottery has been in the news on and off for various reasons, but this time, it’s not a good reason that the state’s lottery is in the spotlight. Since July 1, payments are on hold for winners winning more than $25,000, reports the Chicago Tribune in a new video about the Illinois lottery payment troubles to due the state’s budget issues.
Women like Susan Rick thought the $250,000 Illinois lottery winning jackpot would help her out quite a bit when her boyfriend won the quarter of a million dollars, but instead, the Illinois lottery sent them an IOU due to a budget impasse.
Although Illinois state officials told the couple they’d get paid as soon as lottery budget makers passed a budget, that’s not music to the ears of folks who’ve won more than $25,000 and have been waiting for their winnings in Illinois.
After stories of Danny Chasteen’s Illinois lottery winnings of $250,000 being delayed until a date that’s unknown went viral on WGN , the Illinois lottery issued a statement.
“Due to the ongoing budget situation in Springfield, some lottery winner payments have been delayed. All winners will be paid in full as soon as the Lottery and the Illinois Comptroller have the legislative authority to do so. Currently, winners may claim prizes under $600 at any of our 8,000 retail locations, and prizes under $25,000 may be claimed at any Lottery claims center, found at illinoislottery.com .”
As previously reported by the Chicago Tribune , Illinois was the first state to allow the purchase of Illinois lottery tickets via their lottery gaming app. As long as the lottery players were geo-targeted as being within the Illinois state lines, they could purchase tickets.
However, with a lottery payment delay in Illinois, lottery players find it dampens the spirit of the game, with gamblers not knowing exactly when they would be paid in the event they won more than $25,000.
The Illinois app had been downloaded thousands of times since its launch. In an effort to help those with gambling problems not spend too much money on the app – Illinois mobile app lottery players were capped at a $3,500 monthly spending limit.
There have been no reports as of yet as to how the delay in payments to Illinois lottery winners due more than $25,000 in winnings have affected sales of Illinois lottery tickets, either via the mobile Illinois lottery app or in-person sales via Illinois lottery retailers.
[Photo by Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune / TNS via Getty Images]
