Nebraska assesses lottery bill

The Nebraska Lottery sees winners go public, but this may soon change as a new bill could allow them to preserve their anonymity.

US.- Winning the lottery may be a blessing but it can also turn into a headache. That’s why Nebraska is considering changing lottery rules and allowing winners to preserve their anonymity.

Sen. Tom Brandt is pushing the bill to help lottery winners of prizes worth more than US$300k.

“I do think the ability to remain anonymous will allow the winners to hold onto a sense of normalcy. Thus, they’ll remain in the Good Life,” Brandt said.

Should the bill pass, Nebraska would be the 8th state to change lottery rules to protect winners’ identities.

Wisconsin

Back in April, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos introduced Wisconsin’s lottery bill at the same time a winner claimed his prize. Manuel Franco, who won US$768 million said he felt paranoid as soon as he realised he had won.

Mr Vos cited Franco in a memo seeking co-sponsors for the bill. He assured forcing lottery winners to reveal their identity exposes them to fraud and harassment. Several other states have considered similar legislation. Arkansas pushed for its own recently, as did Virginia. They all seek to protect winners identities.