A bill that would allow Arizona lottery winners to remain anonymous moved closer to passage Wednesday following a contentious hearing in a state Senate committee that pitted the Republican sponsor against Democrats who argued it would diminish public accountability.
The bill by Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, was prompted by the public release of a Fountain Hills man's name after he won half of a $587.5 million Powerball jackpot in November. Matthew Good's name was released under Arizona public records laws after he collected the $192 million cash option payout. He's never spoken publicly about his good fortune.
Kavanagh said players' personal safety should not be put at risk just because they're lucky enough to win big.
The bill sailed through the House but ran into opposition in the Senate Commerce, Energy and Military committee Wednesday, including questions from Republicans.
"I don't understand why a lottery winner would be protected and we wouldn't protect other people in similar circumstances," Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa, asked, mentioning high-net worth executives as one example.
But Kavanagh said there's a big difference, noting the lottery winners are generally private people who don't seek the limelight.
Kavanagh said Good approached him in Fountain Hills after the bill passed a House committee last month and thanked him for carrying the bill.
"He also said he hasn't had a good night's rest since he won the money because he was so fearful," Kavanagh told the committee.
The bill is opposed by The Arizona Republic, with attorney David Bodney testifying it was well intentioned but flawed.
"It can't be a success without accountability," Bodney said of the Arizona Lottery. "There can be no transparency and accountability if the names of the winners are confidential."
Most states require winners' names to be disclosed in some way. Of 44 states participating in Powerball and 33 in Mega-Millions, only Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota and Ohio allow blanket anonymity.
Some states require an appearance at a press conference. Others, including Arizona, don't require winners to appear in public, but their names can be obtained through public records laws.
The bill isn't opposed by the Arizona Lottery, but other lotteries argue they need the publicity to help sell tickets and that releasing winners' names lets the public know the games aren't fixed.
Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, sparred with Kavanagh, questioning him about whether there could be accountability if winners were anonymous.
"They're now taking away transparency, and that's my concern," Gallardo said.
Kavanagh said there's plenty of checks and balances in the Lottery system without outing big winners.
"Ultimately what we're balancing here is the individual right to privacy and the public's right to know," Kavanagh said. But he said in this case there's no reason to release the names.
The bill, HB2082 passed committee on a 5-2 vote and now goes to the full Senate for consideration.
Hooray for AZ.........
With you there on this one Ronnie.
Outing a winner's name should be up to the Winner. The excuse that one has to stand before a battery of mics & cameras is nonsense. People will buy lottery tickets regardless of who wins or not.
* Kavanagh said Good approached him in Fountain Hills after the bill passed a House committee last month and thanked him for carrying the bill.
That right there says it all.
What multi millionaire is going to take time out of his day to show up and " Thank " a politician for doing the right thing... anyone, anyone?
I can understand how it is good publicity. If the guy in Fountain Hills had not come forward with his story we would have never known that he walked into a store for a $10. ticket and walked away with $200 million.
I buy more $10. tickets these days. lol. lol.
very smart.
Its true. lol. lol. I have to think, "if that guy can spend $10. and win $200 million, so can I" lol.lol. I told a cashier the other day that I was going to spend $10. and win $200 million. He just smiled.
Actually, I'd be more willing to come out with some details if my name wasn't attached to it. If the lottery releases my name, they get nothing else. If I can be anonymous, I would do a bit of an interview with them. I'd tell them how I played, and even a little about my personal background if they want to know. Just nothing that identifies me.
WTG Arizona
Thank you Mr. Cavanaugh.
There are enough players who want to do the press conference and celebrate in public to keep the public from thinking it's all a sham.
And why don't we protect executives too? Well, people think of lottery winners and executives quite differently. Even tho many think CEOs make too much money, it's still earned by doing something most of us don't think we could do. On the other hand, lottery winners are "just lucky" and didn't earn the wealth. People're thinking that could have been MY ticket that won. I paid into the lottery and I deserve to have won that jackpot.
How many people can claim they won the lottery because they have lottery playing skills?
Michigan should go anonymous too.
The woman that won the $7.5 (19) Million MegaMillions jackpot 3 weeks ago let word slip to the piggery before she claimed the ticket and there were stories about her hiding and shutting off her phone on the local news here.
From the OP:
"...the Republican sponsor against Democrats who argued it would diminish public accountability...."
Has anyone ever seen anything about states that do allow winners to be anonymous having "diminsihed public accountability"?
I don't think so.
Ima B a winner.
Ever notice how the ppl. opposed to this idea are w/out fail....lawyers ?
No I never noticed. Lawyers don't like ppl's being anonymity?
Lovely! Now hopefully the balance of non-enlightened states will fall like dominos
What they don't like is losing a chance to be hired for a fight over a lottery pool.
You mean the pool leader can just say "you lost" and cash the ticket anonymity?
Wherever large amounts of money lie, there will be an entangled ball of slime covered lawyers, writhing and undulating and slithering in orgasmic splendor at the possibility of getting someone else's money away from them.
Now that sounds just down right despicable.
I'm shocked, appalled and rife with indignation at the very thought of a slime encased ball of squirming, writhing lawyers, undulating at the prospect of getting someone's money.
Lets be honest guys. We love reading about the winners and their unique stories. How they turned a mistake ticket into a fortune, or how a work pool finally won when one guy pulled out and so on. LP is popular because of these very stories. IMHO anonymity is good but it would eat into the euphoria that drives jackpots up faster.
But I don't have to know their names in order to find the stories interesting.
Yessir! you're right on that one.
I agree with you on this - I am thankful that this bill passed too! Thanks to the politician that introduced this bill.
All the people cheering this, bet you would not be so cheerful of this if you were on the other side of this and someone screwed you out of your share of millions and you never knew or found out too late because they other party was able to stay anonymous.
What if you had sued someone and got a judment against them in the past, maybe you were hit by a drunk driver or a business partner screwed you out of money, now if they won the lottery you would never know and they get away scot free with your money.
You people really have no intelligence or you would clearly want the lottery to be as transparent as possible.
Is being anonymous really that big a deal? There are thousands of people out there that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and billions of dollars and everyone knows who they are and they are just fine.
Hmmm...good point...Winners should be anonymous so people who like to play in pools should figure out how to do it correctly otherwise they would get screwed.
As far as legal settlements go, I am sure a lawyer could figure out how to set them up so that you could collect if the person ever got money.
I don't know that for a fact but you sure seem to know everything!
If they want to boost their sales is advertisement not enough? I also believe that whenever they announce the name of the winner they become a good target of bad guys out there. If they still wan to release the name can they guarantee the safety of the winner?