This is going to be a set of stupid questions, but I'm not too familiar with the lottery because I don't play that much (for background, I live in California):
1. Even if I win a scratch it ticket prize of $7.00, does the state still record how much money people win, regardless on how tiny and little money the prize is?
2. I understand why news won't report someone winning $100K (which to me is still a lot of money), but if you win an amount under 1 million, can you choose to do the payment plan of 30 years? Or for smaller amounts, they won't offer that and would rather give it to you all in one lump sum after taxes?