California State Lottery: assignment of prize payments.

The California State Lottery Act of 1984, an initiative measure, authorizes the California State Lottery and provides for its operation and administration by the California State Lottery Commission and the Director of the California State Lottery, with certain limitations. The act prohibits the assignment of the right of any person to a prize, except that the payment of any lottery prize may be assigned under specified circumstances, including as collateral to secure certain loans and for future payments to another person designated pursuant to an appropriate judicial order of a California superior court, or a federal court having jurisdiction over property located in California, if the court makes a specified determination. The act provides that a prize winner, by entering into an agreement to assign prize payments, as specified, is deemed to have waived any statutory period of limitation as to the State of California enforcing any rights against annual prize payments due after the last assigned payment is paid or released, if assigned as collateral, from the lien granted the secured creditor. The act provides that these assignments of prize payments as collateral to secure loans or for future payments to another person designated pursuant to a judicial order, as described above, are not valid or allowed for the final 3 annual prize payments from the lottery to the prizewinner. This bill would instead provide that the assignment of the final 3 annual prize payments is prohibited unless the contract assigning all or any part of the final 3 annual prize payments is entered into on or after the effective date of the bill. The California State Lottery Act of 1984 provides that none of its provisions may be changed except to further its purpose by a bill passed by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and signed by the Governor. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes of the act. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.