Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Lottery Fraud Privacy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bill would bar sale of winning lottery tickets and allow winners to remain anonymous
Summary
House Bill 3115A would prohibit the sale or assignment for compensation of winning lottery tickets and allow winners to keep name and address private unless they consent; sponsors said the change is intended to reduce schemes that evade child support and tax collection and to protect winners' privacy.
House Bill 3115A was the subject of a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor and Business on April 15. Representatives Kim Wallen and John Lively, sponsors from the House, told the committee the bill clarifies that selling, purchasing or claiming a winning lottery ticket for compensation is prohibited and adds two main components: a tax-related provision to prevent buyers of tickets from avoiding Oregon taxable income and a privacy provision that exempts a prize winner’s name and address from public disclosure unless the winner signs authorization to release it.
Representative Kim Wallen, of Medford, described the market for purchased tickets and the harms she and lawmakers observed in the House gambling committee: “There’s a market and actually a full business of people selling their lottery tickets for under their face value. And people do this to escape tax liability and spousal and child support obligations.” Wallen said the amendment would clarify enforcement and discourage commercial buyers who target winners.
Representative John Lively, of Springfield, said sellers frequently trade tickets at bars or set up businesses to buy winners, and the state loses collections for child support or taxes when assignment schemes are used. Lively added that the Department of Revenue has a technical role: buyers could deduct purchase price as a business expense on federal filings and thereby reduce reported income; HB 3115A would require such purchases to be added back to Oregon taxable income so the state can collect appropriate taxes.
Why it matters: Sponsors argued the bill protects both revenue collection and winners’ privacy. The bill also makes an administrative change to let winners be anonymous by default for large prizes, relieving winners from publicity unless they elect otherwise.
Committee members asked technical questions about enforcement and whether the lottery already tracks suspicious patterns. Lively said the Lottery can identify multiple claims by the same person and that “currently nothing” is typically done when suspicious clustering occurs. Wallen noted the bill clarifies existing law and creates tax disincentives and that the Lottery and Department of Revenue have been involved in drafting the approach.
No committee action was taken during the hearing; the sponsors said the bill had bipartisan support in the House and that the measure carried minimal fiscal impact per the House fiscal statement. The committee closed the hearing and moved on to other agenda items.
