SACRAMENT, Calif. -- The California legislature missed its court-ordered deadline regarding its participation Mega Millions, The Argus reports. The Democrat-controlled legislature has questioned practices of the California Lottery for the past several years.

The lawmakers did not make the necessary changes to the lottery bill, which needed an extension of California’s prize-claim period to be the same as the 11 other Mega Millions states. A court ordered last Friday’s deadline to ensure that participation in multi-state lotto remains fair to education, lottery officials told the newspaper.

Lottery spokesman Rob McAndrews refused to comment on the agency’s intentions, stating that the agency was working on something other than legislation to try to meet the deadline.

Currently, California winners of Mega Millions prizes only have six months to claim their winnings; other Mega Millions states allow one year to claim prizes.

Sen. Dean Florez, a Democrat, stalled the bill because he wanted the lottery’s allocation to schools to be more than the current one-third of sales, which the state lottery agency opposes.