Big-time Illinois Lottery winners aren't getting the payout they're owed.
Without a state budget agreement two months into the new fiscal year, there's no authority for the state comptroller to cut checks over $25,000. Smaller amounts are being disbursed.
Susan Rick, of Oglesby, Illinois, planned home fix-ups and a visit to her daughter after her boyfriend won a $250,000 prize last month. But they were told to wait.
Rick says if the situation were reversed, the state would "come take it and they don't care whether we have a roof over our head."
Lottery spokesman Steve Rossi says the state agency, like every other one, is "obviously affected by the budget situation."
