Senate panel kills lottery winner secrecy bill, 8-1

The Senate State Affairs Committee has voted 8-1 to kill HB 95, Rep. Lynn Luker’s bill to make the identities of everyone who wins $600 or more in the Idaho Lottery secret. Objections to the move came from the lottery itself, as well as from media groups objecting to such an extensive exemption to the Idaho Public Records Act. The only vote in favor of the bill came from Sen. Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls. “I’m going to get rolled today, I don’t mind it,” Davis said. “But I like my aye vote.”

Full disclosure here: I’m the president of the Idaho Press Club, one of the media groups on record opposing the bill. Among those speaking against it in the committee today were Skip Smyser, the Press Club’s volunteer lobbyist; and Jeremy Pisca, lobbyist for the Newspaper Association of Idaho; along with Idaho Lottery Director Jeff Anderson.

Here’s a report on the committee’s action from the Associated Press:

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho Senate panel has killed legislation that would have allowed lottery winners to hide their identities. The Senate State Affairs Committee on Wednesday voted 8-1 to halt the measure that would have kept the names of individuals who win $600 or more secret. While the bill would have allowed winners to give written authorization to the lottery to publicize their names, the proposal also prevented those names from being released under public records requests for six months after the prize is claimed. Republican Rep. Lynn Luker, of Boise, said the change is necessary to protect the privacy of winners. His bill had previously cleared the House. Currently, just six states allow lottery winners to remain anonymous. In Arizona, lawmakers recently passed legislation that shields lottery winners’ identities for 90 days after they claim their prize.