Bill Text: WV HB2930 | 2017 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Allowing powerball, hot lotto, and mega millions winners to remain anonymous

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-04-04 - On 2nd reading to Finance [HB2930 Detail]

Download: West_Virginia-2017-HB2930-Comm_Sub.html

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WEST virginia legislature

2017 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

House Bill 2930

By Delegates Shott and Lane

[Introduced March 10, 2017; Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §29-22-15a; and to amend and reenact §29B-1-4 of said code, all relating to allowing powerball, hot lotto, and mega millions winners to remain anonymous; providing that a person entitled to collect proceeds exceeding one million dollars from a winning powerball, hot lotto, or mega millions may remain anonymous in regards to his or her name, personal contact information, and likeness; providing that if a person entitled to collect proceeds exceeding one million dollars from a winning powerball, hot lotto, or mega millions ticket wishes to remain anonymous, then he or she shall contact the State Lottery Director in writing or appear at the state lottery headquarters in person; providing where such request to remain anonymous may be mailed or emailed; providing that upon such a request, the director will contact the person requesting anonymity and schedule an appointment to meet; establishing an effective date of January 1, 2018; and providing for an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act for the name, personal contact information, and likeness of a person entitled to collect proceeds exceeding one million dollars from a winning powerball, hot lotto, or mega millions ticket.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §29-22-15a; and that §29B-1-4 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:

CHAPTER 29. MISCELLANEOUS BOARDS AND OFFICERS.

ARTICLE 22. STATE LOTTERY ACT.

§29-22-15a.  Option for winners of powerball, hot lotto, and mega millions to remain anonymous.

(a) A person entitled to collect proceeds exceeding one million dollars from a winning powerball, hot lotto, or mega millions ticket may remain anonymous: Provided, That such anonymity only applies to the person’s name, personal contact information, and likeness.

(b) If the person entitled to collect proceeds exceeding one million dollars from a winning powerball, hot lotto, or mega millions ticket desires to remain anonymous, he or she shall contact the State Lottery Director in writing or appear at the state lottery headquarters in person, concerning his or her desire to remain anonymous: Provided, That such a request only permits that the person’s name, personal contact information, and likeness remain anonymous. At the time of his or her request to remain anonymous, the person shall provide his or her contact information, including any personal telephone number, residential address, or electronic mail address.

(c) Any request to remain anonymous may be by certified mail addressed to the West Virginia State Lottery Director, P.O. Box 2067, Charleston, West Virginia 25327, by electronic mail to an email address that is to be established by West Virginia State Lottery the prior to this bill’s effective date, or in person at the state lottery headquarters. Once established, the secure email address shall be posted on the West Virginia Lottery’s website prior to this bill’s effective date.

(d) Upon receiving a request, the director shall contact the person requesting anonymity and schedule an appointment to meet at any county, regional or state lottery office to confirm the winning number and to otherwise secure the anonymity of the requesting person:

(e) The requirements of this article shall become effective on January 1, 2018.

CHAPTER 29B. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION.

ARTICLE 1. PUBLIC RECORDS.

§29B-1-4. Exemptions.

(a) There is a presumption of public accessibility to all public records, subject only to the following categories of information which are specifically exempt from disclosure under the provisions of this article:

(1) Trade secrets, as used in this section, which may include, but are not limited to, any formula, plan pattern, process, tool, mechanism, compound, procedure, production data or compilation of information which is not patented which is known only to certain individuals within a commercial concern who are using it to fabricate, produce or compound an article or trade or a service or to locate minerals or other substances, having commercial value, and which gives its users an opportunity to obtain business advantage over competitors;

(2) Information of a personal nature such as that kept in a personal, medical or similar file, if the public disclosure of the information would constitute an unreasonable invasion of privacy, unless the public interest by clear and convincing evidence requires disclosure in this particular instance: Provided, That this article does not preclude an individual from inspecting or copying his or her own personal, medical or similar file;

(3) Test questions, scoring keys and other examination data used to administer a licensing examination, examination for employment or academic examination;

(4) Records of law-enforcement agencies that deal with the detection and investigation of crime and the internal records and notations of such law-enforcement agencies which are maintained for internal use in matters relating to law enforcement;

(5) Information specifically exempted from disclosure by statute;

(6) Records, archives, documents or manuscripts describing the location of undeveloped historic, prehistoric, archaeological, paleontological and battlefield sites or constituting gifts to any public body upon which the donor has attached restrictions on usage or the handling of which could irreparably damage the record, archive, document or manuscript;

(7) Information contained in or related to examination, operating or condition reports prepared by, or on behalf of, or for the use of any agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions, except those reports which are by law required to be published in newspapers;

(8) Internal memoranda or letters received or prepared by any public body;

(9) Records assembled, prepared or maintained to prevent, mitigate or respond to terrorist acts or the threat of terrorist acts, the public disclosure of which threaten the public safety or the public health;

(10) Those portions of records containing specific or unique vulnerability assessments or specific or unique response plans, data, databases and inventories of goods or materials collected or assembled to respond to terrorist acts; and communication codes or deployment plans of law-enforcement or emergency response personnel;

(11) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative records dealing with terrorist acts or the threat of a terrorist act shared by and between federal and international law-enforcement agencies, state and local law-enforcement and other agencies within the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety;

(12) National security records classified under federal executive order and not subject to public disclosure under federal law that are shared by federal agencies and other records related to national security briefings to assist state and local government with domestic preparedness for acts of terrorism;

(13) Computing, telecommunications and network security records, passwords, security codes or programs used to respond to or plan against acts of terrorism which may be the subject of a terrorist act;

(14) Security or disaster recovery plans, risk assessments, tests or the results of those tests;

(15) Architectural or infrastructure designs, maps or other records that show the location or layout of the facilities where computing, telecommunications or network infrastructure used to plan against or respond to terrorism are located or planned to be located;

(16) Codes for facility security systems; or codes for secure applications for facilities referred to in subdivision (15) of this subsection;

(17) Specific engineering plans and descriptions of existing public utility plants and equipment;

(18) Customer proprietary network information of other telecommunications carriers, equipment manufacturers and individual customers, consistent with 47 U.S.C. §222;

(19) Records of the Division of Corrections, Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority and the Division of Juvenile Services relating to design of corrections, jail and detention facilities owned or operated by the agency, and the policy directives and operational procedures of personnel relating to the safe and secure management of inmates or residents, that if released, could be used by an inmate or resident to escape a facility, or to cause injury to another inmate, resident or to facility personnel ;

(20) Information related to applications under section four, article seven, chapter sixty-one of this code, including applications, supporting documents, permits, renewals, or any other information that would identify an applicant for or holder of a concealed weapon permit: Provided: That information in the aggregate that does not identify any permit holder other than by county or municipality is not exempted: Provided, however, That information or other records exempted under this subdivision may be disclosed to a law-enforcement agency or officer: (i) To determine the validity of a permit, (ii) to assist in a criminal investigation or prosecution, or (iii) for other lawful law-enforcement purposes; and

(21) Personal information of law-enforcement officers maintained by the public body in the ordinary course of the employer-employee relationship. As used in this paragraph, “personal information” means a law-enforcement officer’s social security number, health information, home address, personal address, personal telephone numbers and personal email addresses and those of his or her spouse, parents and children as well as the names of the law-enforcement officer’s spouse, parents and children; and

(22) Information provided by a person when he or she elects to avail themselves of the provisions of section fifteen-a, article twenty-two, chapter twenty-nine of this code.

(b) As used in subdivisions (9) through (16), inclusive, subsection (a) of this section, the term "terrorist act" means an act that is likely to result in serious bodily injury or damage to property or the environment and is intended to:

(1) Intimidate or coerce the civilian population;

(2) Influence the policy of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion;

(3) Affect the conduct of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion; or

(4) Retaliate against a branch or level of government for a policy or conduct of the government.

(c) The provisions of subdivisions (9) through (16), inclusive, subsection (a) of this section do not make subject to the provisions of this chapter any evidence of an immediate threat to public health or safety unrelated to a terrorist act or the threat of a terrorist act which comes to the attention of a public entity in the course of conducting a vulnerability assessment response or similar activity.

 

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow a powerball winner to be anonymous if they elect to be anonymous. The bill also provides an exemption under FOIA if a person elects anonymity.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.