Who among us has not imagined winning the lottery? The higher the jackpot, the more people buy tickets and fantasize about what it would be like to be rich.
The daydreaming peaked last January when the Powerball jackpot reached a record $1.58 billion dollars. The West Virginia Legislature was in session at that time and, coincidentally, Delegate Stephen Skinner (D-Jefferson) introduced a bill (HB 4505) allowing lottery jackpot winners to remain anonymous.
Skinner confesses he submitted the bill at the request of a constituent and never thought it would get much traction, but it did. Perhaps many who supported the bill could easily imagine themselves winning the giant jackpot and struggling to deal with the inevitable harassment.
George Lowenstein, an economics and psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told the Baltimore Sun during the peak of Powerball frenzy, “You will also be hounded by would-be financial advisers who want to help you manage your money, and if you typify the financially unsophisticated winner, you are going to be vulnerable to them.”
That’s why six of the 44 Powerball states (Maryland, Delaware, Kansas, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina) allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.
However, there are also compelling reasons not to let lottery winners opt out of the publicity.
West Virginia Lottery Acting Director John Myers says public prize ceremonies are important marketing tool. “This really sets this apart as a big game,” Myers told MetroNews. “We tell them there’s a grand prize winner. We actually give that money away to somebody that played the game and followed the rules.”
Anonymity fosters suspicion. We already hold government in low regard so keeping a lid on the identity of grand prize winners serves to undermine the credibility of the game. The best way for any game of chance to maintain its reputation is for the players to witness the outcome.
The lottery is a public undertaking. It is a creation of the government and is operated by the state. Half of the money obtained from ticket sales to Powerball, Mega Millions and Hot Lotto (the games where the winners would be allowed anonymity under the bill) is deposited into various government accounts, while the other half goes to the jackpots.
It is perhaps a stretch to say the jackpot cash is the public’s money, but clearly it is collected, accounted for and distributed as directed by state law and under the imprimatur of West Virginia state government. As such, it is reasonable to know who gets the check.
Finally, an anonymity clause would not necessarily protect the winner from publicity. In a state with only one or two degrees of separation, the word would eventually get out and we in the media would come knocking on their door anyway.
People have a choice: They don’t have to play the lottery, but if they do and if they beat the odds and win a huge jackpot, then others are going to know about it. Governor Tomblin should veto the bill.