Congressman Danny Davis was at Tuesday's event and credited Aids activists for coming up with the lottery idea.
"They took it to the Illinois General Assembly, they lobbied for its passage, they got it passed. it was their idea, it didn't come from anybody else and every time you buy one of those tickets you're helping stop the spread of HIV and AIDS," said Rep. Danny Davis, (D) Chicago.
Illinois has the nation's seventh highest number of reported AIDS cases since 1981.
