Big lottery winners will be able to prevent their names from going public under a bill that passed the Georgia House of Representatives on Monday.
The legislation, Senate Bill 331, guarantees anonymity for anyone who wins more than $250,000 from the Georgia Lottery upon written request. The House voted 173-1 to approve the bill.
State Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, said the legislation is needed to protect lottery winners from violence.
A man who won $400,000 from the lottery in Fitzgerald, Ga., was killed in 2016. In Lakeland, Fla., a man who won $30 million was killed in 2009. Defendants in both cases were found guilty of murder.
“The police later determined he was targeted for his lottery winnings,” Stephens said of the Georgia case. “Let’s save these Georgians’ lives.”
The bill now returns to the Senate, which last month approved a previous version of the measure on a 51-4 vote.
