Reporting from the Heart of the Midwest, the Michigan Legislature is getting ready to test the waters on lottery winners' privacy versus transparency issues.
Currently, the Big Blue state requires lottery winners of multi-state games, e.g., Mega Millions, Powerball, and Lucky for Life, to consent to having their names and identities publicly disclosed upon the submission of their claims.
Debated issue: privacy vs. transparency
A source of much debate over the years, in light of growing privacy concerns and changes at the national level, Michigan state legislators have taken to revisiting the matter.
In 2024, after passing through Michigan's House of Representatives, the state's Congressional Review Board is scheduled to review the case before bringing it to a full vote.
Sponsored by State Representatives Pat Outman and Rober Bezotte, in early November 2023, House Bill 4048 advanced through the House in an endorsing vote of 476 yeas to 106 nays (zero excused and one non-voting).
Matter of public safety
As co-sponsor of the new bill, Michigan State Republican Representative Pat Outman of Six Lakes explained in an interview with ABC-12, the local Michigan affiliate, that winners face safety concerns and/or risk becoming a target of repeated requests for money. Rep. Outman stated:
We shouldn't force Michigan Lottery winners to be in a position where they receive unwanted, possibly dangerous attention… My plan gives them the choice to keep their identities anonymous.
In today's digital age, where personal information is so easy to find on the internet, citizens' safety and harassment concerns are becoming increasingly incessant and alarming.
Pratfalls of social media
Advocating for the passage of the bill, Rep. Outman implored:
With the advent of the internet and social media platforms, it has become incredibly easy for anyone to access personal information about individuals, including lottery winners.
Among the specific risks winners face, you will find invasion of privacy, unwanted/unwarranted harassment, and general safety concerns.
According to Outman, “The heightened visibility raises the risks for fraud, harassment, and even physical harm.”
Double standard?
Though the State of Michigan DOES allow players who win more than $10,000 on Michigan State Lottery games the option to remain anonymous, the same rights have not yet been extended to the winners of the national multi-state games.
As a good example, just this past year, in 2023, the Michigan Lottery had several impressive wins.
In November, Michael Sopejstal of New Buffalo won the top prize in the Lucky for Life game and elected to take the annual pay-out option of $25,000 each year. And, in October 2023, Ahmad Yassin of Dearborn took home $100,000 on Powerball while a woman won $2 million on a scratch-off ticket.
Interestingly, while the woman had the choice to remain anonymous, the two men were not granted the same right as both won in national, multi-state games and, under current policy provisions, must come forward to reveal their names in order to claim their winnings.
As is common knowledge, the jackpots of both the Powerball and Mega Millions games have, on a more and more regular basis, exceeded the billion-dollar mark.
Hence, on account of the ginormous amounts of money at stake and intensified levels of public exposure, Rep. Outman et al. have made a strong case for the critical need to put more protective measures in place for winners.
Freedom to choose
Not a lone entity, should the bill attain full passage status, it would afford Michigan Lottery winners of multi-state games the freedom to choose for themselves whether to reveal or not reveal their names and identities.
With final passage, as reported by USA Today, Michigan would then join the following states to be the 11th state with similar privacy laws already on the books: Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Wyoming.
In Michigan, they have high energy surrounding their Big Blue moniker, the University’s Big House, and many big lottery wins.
But, whereas full public disclosure requirements go, winners of multi-state games may not have the same level of enthusiasm. Referred to by past winners as both a ‘gift’ and a ‘curse,’ this is because lottery winners of sizable amounts have the power to attract a lot of unwanted attention.
Celebrate, don't consternate
“Winning the lottery should be cause for celebration, not distress," Rep. Outman emphatically expressed, "Several other states allow winners to remain anonymous. It's time for Michigan to allow this option as well."
With passage in Michigan's House of Representatives, the bill now moves to the Committee on Regulatory Affairs in the Senate before being presented to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for her signature and enactment into law.
It would seem quite possible then that, in the coming New Year, Michigander multi-state lottery winners may be given the option whether to remain anonymous or come forth. It is then that, at long last, they may truly be blue no more.
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