Lawmakers in Oregon have passed a new bill that will prevent lottery winners from being paraded in front of cameras with large checks after cashing out from lottery competitions. House Bill 3115, which was passed on Tuesday, will give lottery winners anonymity.
The bill was passed to the Senate on a 23-5 vote. Although it is not clear if Governor Tina Kotek supports the bill, and it is still unknown if her office will sign it into law after ignoring requests for comments in the last two weeks, the bill was proposed with the aim of ensuring integrity and trust in lottery games and agencies.
Formerly, Oregon was one of 23 states that didn’t allow for the anonymity of lottery winners, but proponents of HB3115 claim that it could lead to the doxxing and harassment of winners. While this bill is yet to take full effect, there are suggestions that it will have a positive effect on online lottery couriers.
Unlike the traditional lottery, public announcements of winners are something online casino players do not have to worry about. Those who value privacy and anonymity typically opt for offshore casinos and visit PokerStrategy alongside other popular review sites to find them. Many of these offshore platforms do not require players to provide personal documentation for KYC, and they also accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which promotes anonymity.
While HB3115 offers anonymity to lottery winners, there is another aspect to it. Another aim of the bill is to stop lottery winners from selling their tickets at a discount to third parties. This practice by lottery winners involves the selling of their tickets at a discount of 50 to 80 cents to third parties who will then redeem the tickets for their full value at payment centers in Wilsonville or Salem.
By purchasing millions of these tickets, discounters are evading the taxes that would be placed on the full value of the prize. They also avoid paying any state debts or past due obligations that could’ve been tied to their winnings. With this bill, Oregon now has an official legislation that stops the sales of tickets to discounters and stops people from knocking off the purchase price of tickets from the buyer’s taxable income.
The anonymous part of the bill was requested by Rep. John Lively, a Democratic state representative from Springfield, who was one of its sponsors. The amendment drew from the testimony of Darian Stanford, A Tonkon Torp attorney, who works with a courier service in Malta. The testimony of Stanford explained the ‘lottery curse’ to lawmakers. He stated that jackpot winners suffered from personal and financial fallouts after their identities and winnings were made public. They become vulnerable to scammers or even worse circumstances.
Rep. John Lively requested that the winner’s name be publicly revealed only if the winner says so in writing. This request didn’t face any debate in the Senate or House committees when the bill was reviewed. This bill aims to regulate unchecked lottery activities in Oregon. While it awaits approval from Gov. Kotek, there are hopes that it will get signed. If the governor fails to sign it, the bill will go into effect 91 days after the end of the legislative process. However, if she turns down the bill, two-thirds of the votes in the House and Senate will be required to override it, according to Article V Section 15b of the Constitution of Oregon.
