Michigan bill to protect identities of lottery winners advances as Powerball tops $1.7B

LANSING — Forcing winners of huge lottery jackpots to publicly reveal their identities is like "throwing meat in a shark-infested ocean," says a Michigan lawmaker who wants to give lucky claimants the option to remain anonymous.

House Bill 4048, sponsored by state Rep. Pat Outman, R-Six Lakes, would allow winners of multistate lotteries to keep their identities secret,; it was unanimously voted out of a House committee Tuesday as the jackpot for Wednesday night's Powerball jackpot is projected to top $1.7 billion — the second-largest in the game's history.

The internet makes it "incredibly easy" to access personal information about big lottery winners, making them susceptible to solicitations, scams, and potentially violence, Outman told the House Regulatory Reform Committee Oct. 3.

"This bill is necessary for the safety, privacy and overall well-being of our citizens," and about 11 states have already adopted similar legislation, Outman said.

But the Michigan Lottery, a state agency that contributed $1.2 billion to the School Aid Fund from lottery revenues last year alone opposes the change.

"For transparency sake, being able to show that real people are winning these life-changing prizes — we feel that's important," Michigan Lottery spokesman Jake Harris said Tuesday.

Some of the buzz surrounding huge jackpots relates to seeing who comes forward to claim the prize and how the money might impact their life.

Harris said player safety is a primary concern but there are precautions big winners can take and all the Michigan stories he knows about big winners have been happy ones.

Generally, "it's a 15 minutes of fame thing," Harris said.

Though there have been concerns that anonymous winners might hurt confidence and excitement in the game and hurt lottery sales, state Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit, who chairs the House Regulatory Reform Committee, said: "More people would probably play the lottery if they knew not everybody would know their business."

More: Michigan Lottery customer complaints lead to fines, suspensions, criminal charges

The bill advanced Tuesday to the full House, but can't become law quickly enough to help anyone in Michigan who wins Wednesday's Powerball and wants to claim their prize right away.

A similar bill passed the House by a vote of 107-1 in 2021, but the bill died because it was never taken up in the Senate.

Winners of Michigan-only lottery prizes bigger than $10,000 already remain anonymous unless they opt to waive that right. Only winners of multistate draws such as Powerball and Mega Millions have to reveal themselves.

Last year, about 250 Michigan residents won instate lottery prizes of more than $100,000 and only about 30 of those opted to waive anonymity, Harris said.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan House panel OKs bill to let lottery winners remain secret