Illinois House approves $3.1 billion deal to pay lottery winners, local governments

Amid continued budget gridlock in Springfield, Senate Bill 2039 provides funds to pay Illinois Lottery winners, as well as to allow for road maintenance, 911-center operations and projects by Chicago’s tourism office, among other local government programs.

Illinois politicians approved $3.1 billion to fund payments to lottery winners, local governments, highway departments and domestic violence shelters.

It’s another piecemeal workaround in a state that has been without a budget for six months.

The Illinois House of Representatives freed up these funds when it passed Senate Bill 2039 on Dec. 2. A billion dollars will be set aside to pay out lottery winnings, something the state hasn’t done for almost two months for winnings worth more than $600.

In addition to distributing funds to local governments and lottery winners, SB 2039 also gives $7.2 million to Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism agency, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.

Before any funds can be distributed, the Illinois Senate must sign off on the measure when members convene Dec. 7.

Illinois’ unpaid bill stack sits at $6.7 billion. For more than a decade, politicians have been running the state without a balanced budget, instead using gimmicks and loopholes to push debt off onto future generations.

The new fiscal year began July 1, and with it came the duty for politicians to pass a balanced budget. 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 many in the General Assembly refuse to do the right thing and pass a balanced budget the state can afford, instead of resorting to deficit spending. With more than $100 billion in government-worker pension debt and $6.7 billion in unpaid bills, more of the same won’t work.

Rauner expects that the state won’t have a budget until January 2016.