Lottery-winner secrecy bill dies in Idaho Senate

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