Virginia is reportedly on its way to introducing stricter measures to better protect the privacy of lottery winners in the US state.
Local media outlets informed that a bill containing the amendments has landed on Gov Glenn Youngkin’s desk and may soon receive his signature.
If signed, the new law – having already passed the Virginia House and the Senate with an overwhelming majority – will require the state to publicly release the names of those who’ve won $1m or more only after it receives their consent.
To a various degree, other states have also been rolling out stronger privacy protections around big lottery winnings, citing heightened risks to the recipients.
In Florida for example, winning ticket owners who rake in prizes of more than $250k have a three-month privacy protection in place that conceals their identity.
Arizona offers complete anonymity to those winning a Powerball jackpot of more than $100k. The size of the jackpot must be at least $250k for winners to remain anonymous in Georgia and Illinois.
For Virginia, lottery winnings that grant anonymity must currently be at least $10m, while in West Virginia that number is $1m – which is also the target amount of the new Virginia bill.