Lottery Payouts Halted Due to Shutdown

The District of Columbia Lottery has announced  that "no winning D.C. lottery tickets will be cashed until further notice" as a result of the government shutdown.

Lottery Director Buddy Roogow warned that the lack of payouts would affect sales, The Washington Post reported.

"Every day we're unable to redeem tickets is a problem for us," he said.

Under the district's Home Rule charter, Washington is not authorized to spend its $6 billion a year in locally generated funds because its budget must be appropriated by Congress.

Many D.C. government functions have been operating using a $144 million contingency reserve fund, but payments for Medicaid and transportation subsidies have been halted.

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