WV Lottery officials oppose jackpot anonymity bill

Comment #28

TheGameGrl — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 04:55:13 GMT

it will, its in the budget. Pa is going tax lottery winnings. Gov Wolf is one dot away from signing it. Ask the Pa website help desk, they will affirm its going to happen.

Transperancy has yet to be proven dishonest. funny how that works.

Yet hide something and it looks shady. I imagine the lottery saying ummm yeah... someone claimed it when there is no one to challenge it... Do you really trust them to say that and not question the authenticity?? That is an old kinda nieve if ever there

Comment #27

Coin Toss — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 23:22:04 GMT

Candellight777,

Once again, may I suggest the Jackpot Winners Protection Program

Comment #26

Candlelight777 — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 11:56:31 GMT

A representative such as their lawyer picking up the check should be more then enough to satisfy people that the check was paid out to a real person...nobody needs to know the identity of the winner the lawyer is representing. I have no need to know that information neither does anyone else. The lottery makes enough money they don't need to put winners lives in danger so they can boost their sales further. It should have been like this from the get go.

Comment #25

myturn — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 11:21:19 GMT

The UK lottery, which is the most successful lottery in the world, allows winners to remain anonymous. The British people trust the UK National Lottery, and support the right to anonymity, as they would also like to have the right to anonymity if they were lucky enough to win.

Comment #24

R151413 — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 07:41:11 GMT

In all of the rhetoric you can find the truth:

Public prize claims also help drive sales, according to Myers .

Comment #23

BDUB211 — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 06:01:26 GMT

Pennsylvania doesn't have a tax on lottery winnings either.

Comment #22

Coin Toss — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 05:56:38 GMT

Savagegoose said Australia makes it an option on the play slips - NP - No Publicity.

There's no reason US lotteries can't do that.

Comment #21

haymaker — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 05:27:26 GMT

Jersey is 10.8 % the highest.

Comment #20

mypiemaster — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 02:41:02 GMT

Comment #19

Seattlejohn — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 02:00:41 GMT

Pfft. Expectation of transparency, my great Aunt Petunia; this is nothing more than a sleazy attempt by the WV lottery officials to line their pockets. As they said in the article, publicity drives sales. The lottery executives compensation is partly driven by increasing sales; they want people being photographed standing at the press conference, receiving that huge oversized check; they make more money that way.

What they don't say in the article is the lottery executives know from experien... [ More ]

Comment #18

Romancandle — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 01:12:27 GMT

Just because people want your money doesn't mean you have to give it to them

Tell that to the last person who got shot while being robbed

Comment #17

Shelby Mustang — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 01:01:04 GMT

it should be no anonymity. We need to know if a real person has won that's all. Just because people want your money doesn't mean you have to give it to them. They want mine now and I'm not rich now that won't change if and when I hit it big, so I couldn't care less it NC wanted to print my name

Comment #16

Stack47 — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 00:03:37 GMT

The House bill, now pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee, adds a section to the West Virginia Lottery Act. With it, a Powerball, Mega Millions or Hot Lotto winner could choose to remain anonymous and there would be an allowance for a Freedom of Information Act exemption if a person opts to accept a jackpot prize anonymously to keep it that way.

It's not about what's important to players, but public records and the question of should lottery winnings be exempt when other public records ar... [ More ]

Comment #15

music* — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 23:06:58 GMT

Groppo, California, Texas, Florida, and Tennessee do not tax lottery winnings.

Comment #14

Groppo — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 22:50:34 GMT

I think a more important issue would be for

WV to lower the 6.5% state lotto-prize tax.

New York has the highest lotto tax at 8.8%.

And, the higher the jackpot, the higher 'their' tax,

when you and I have often spent our last dollar buying a doggone lotto ticket.

New Jersey has the lowest tax at 3%.

So, isn't lowering the state lotto-prize tax, nationwide, a more important issue?

What would the states do then?

Drop lotto once and for all, with the big lobby they have... [ More ]

Comment #13

dallascowboyfan — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 22:41:10 GMT

Comment #12

MADDOG10 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 22:18:06 GMT

Is the State Lottery Commision that Niave' ? If a Lawyer or represntitive picks up the check, that's proof enough.

They need to get their act together if they're going to continue as paid employee's. Unbelievable.

The need for privacy is a must......

Comment #11

music* — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 20:30:52 GMT

We shall not forget family and friends who beg beg. Friends and relations are the worst. Spoken by a lottery winner who donates one hundred dollars to charity when the Chicago White Sox hits a home run, in honor of his late wife. Alex Snelius. I found him using LP's Search box. $18.5 M lottery winner scraping by.

It has been said that we do not have to fear the gangs in the hood but instead beware of foxes disguised in business suits. They come in sheep's clothing.

Comment #10

OneTrickpony — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 18:45:16 GMT

Naming winners is free publicity. It drives up sales and brings their advertisement budget in under cap = Big Fat Bonus for the lottery senior management. While I'm all for performance-based bonuses, not at the expense of someone possibly being harmed by exposure.

Comment #9

dallascowboyfan — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 17:18:06 GMT

Comment #8

SoleWinner21 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 16:57:30 GMT

I remember Brad Duke said they were people camping out on his front lawn after he won. Like wtf is wrong with some people to think it's okay to do something like that.

Comment #7

Redd55 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 16:41:14 GMT

That's how I originally interpreted it. But I think he is justifying why they had press conferences when anonymity was not allowed.

Comment #6

HoLeeKau — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 16:33:07 GMT

If we don't do it all at one time, sometimes they'll have people knocking on their doors wanting an interview for weeks at a time after they've won it. It tends to get it all over, they can get on with their lives, he said.

No, Einstein. If they're allowed to stay anonymous, no one will be knocking on their door because no one will know who they are

Comment #5

rcbbuckeye — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 16:06:29 GMT

Jack caused his own problems.

Who in their right mind leaves thousands of dollars in their truck at a strip joint

Comment #4

Redd55 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 15:52:39 GMT

If we don't do it all at one time, sometimes they'll have people knocking on their doors wanting an interview for weeks at a time after they've won it. It tends to get it all over, they can get on with their lives, he said.

Bull. People could pack up and move or go on extended vacation and then move. People know what's best for them and they dont need gov officials making life changing decisions for them. Plus, bottom line the state wants the free publicity to drive sales. That's it in a... [ More ]

Comment #3

hearsetrax — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 15:38:07 GMT

my guess is that ole Jack would've gone public even if he had the option back then

Comment #2

music* — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 15:25:28 GMT

Thank You Delegate Stephen Skinner (D-Jefferson,67). I hope it passes in the Senate.

This is too late to help Andrew Jackson Jack Whitaker winner of Power Ball $315 million.

I wonder how many winners will want to go public and do the press event

Comment #1

haymaker — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 15:14:21 GMT

They're opposed to it B/C of all the problems anonymity caused in DE KS MD and others...

let's see there was...umm...well there was uh...no...in one place they had...uh...nevermind

WV Lottery officials oppose jackpot anonymity bill

Lottery Post — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 14:46:51 GMT

The times of the big lottery check presentations may soon come to an end in West Virginia.

Winners of big jackpots would no longer have to make required public appearances to claim those prizes if a bill that's moving at the State Capitol becomes law.

The West Virginia Lottery is opposing the bill because of what John Myers, acting director of the Lottery, called an expectation of transparency among players.

They want to know that, when we tell them that there's a grand prize winner, t... [ More ]