The fact there’s no state budget is a bigger headache to Steve Sandvoss than is the fact that this is his first year as director of the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Samdvoss said the show must go on.
Now that candidates have filed for the March 15, 2016, Illinois primary, part of Sandvoss’ job this time of year includes fielding challenges to candidates’ petitions, a time-honored practice in Illinois. An Illinois Senate candidate won his first election to Springfield by having an incumbent in his district disqualified. You may have heard of him.

Barack Obama.

In other State news,it is not the biggest problem in the world, but it succinctly helped make Illinois a national embarrassment: the lottery with no prizes.

Without a state budget, there was no spending authority for big prizes. That did not stop the lottery from selling tickets – or from advertising.

Executive Director of the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association and the Illinois Association for Convenience Stores Bill Fleishli says the lottery itself is not a big profit center for his constituents, but anything that brings people into the store helps drive sales of drinks, candy, and snacks, customarily the big-margin items for the gas stations and convenience stores. He says lottery retailers in stores across Illinois’ borders reaped the benefits.

The lottery also made news this year when the state cancelled its contract with the Northstar management firm; Fleishli says he is looking forward to new management and, possibly, new games.