Subcommittee advances state treasurer budget with new investment, unclaimed-property and IT positions

The Joint Committee on Ways and Means subcommittee on General Government voted June 5, 2025, to advance Senate Bill 5542, the Oregon State Treasury budget, after approving the Legislative Fiscal Office(LFO) recommendations that increase other funds spending and establish new positions across the agency.

The LFO recommended a $157,799,346 other-funds budget (with $4,067,299 other funds nonlimited) for a total funds recommendation of $161,866,645, a 7.5% increase from current service levels. The recommendation in the dash-2 amendment includes 243 positions and 234.26 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions and was approved by the subcommittee and moved to the Ways and Means Full Committee with a due-pass recommendation.

Why it matters: The package increases staffing and one-time investments aimed at expanding portfolio management capacity, responding to growing unclaimed-property workloads (including virtual assets), and strengthening IT security and disaster-recovery capabilities at the Oregon State Treasury.

Walt, the Legislative Fiscal Office analyst, summarized the overall recommendation and the program-level packages. He told the committee the investment services program would rise to a recommended $62,200,924 in other funds and that package 106, "investment services capacity," as modified, increases other-funds expenditure limitation by $6,299,464 and establishes 13 positions (7.52 FTE) to support growth in managed investments and data analysis.

The subcommittee discussed the scope and phasing of the investment hires. "These are new positions," Walt said, clarifying that the 13 positions would bring investment services from 72 to 85 total positions and that hiring was phased across the biennium (six positions anticipated immediately, five in year two at part-time FTE equivalents, and two near the bienniumend). Several legislators stressed caution about adding recurring personnel costs while other members praised the treasury's historical performance and oversight experience.

The budget also funds a trust-property package (package 107) to address growing unclaimed-property work. As modified, it increases other-funds expenditure limitation by $1,708,345 and establishes six positions (5.39 FTE), including an unclaimed property claims manager, a fraud investigator, a virtual asset reconciliation analyst, a securities reconciliation analyst, a reporting and compliance analyst, and an unclaimed property auditor. The package was described as targeting both the increased volume of reported unclaimed property and more complex, fraudulent claims.

George Naughton, deputy treasurer, described hiring expectations and internal controls for investment work: "When we're hiring ... we are looking for a lot of experience, a lot of leadership experience," and he explained that investment recommendations go through leadership and committee structures that provide oversight.

Administrative and information-technology changes were also approved. Package 108 (administrative services capacity) increases other-funds expenditure limitation by $774,931 to add two positions and upgrade two part-time roles to full time for accounting, procurement and related support. Package 110 (IT capacity and security) increases other-funds expenditure limitation by $2,069,453, establishes two positions (a network security analyst and a chief data officer), adds $1,320,000 for security tools (including application security scanning, data encryption, governance/risk/compliance, identity and access management and privileged access management), and $720,000 for business continuity and disaster recovery enhancements focused on Azure and VMware recovery capabilities.

The LFO also recommended package 801, increasing other-funds expenditure limitation by $470,651 to establish a general counsel position (0.92 FTE) to coordinate legal services provided by the Department of Justice and advise the treasurer as a constitutional officer.

Committee members reviewed the treasuryKey Performance Measures (KPMs) proposed for 2026and 2027 were approved with updated targets consistent with the agencymethodology. Highlights cited by the LFO include Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund (OPERF) net performance at 7.9% (targets 7.55% for 2026 and 7.49% for 2027), Oregon Short Term Fund performance at 5.88% (target 4.97%), and an unclaimed-property disbursement rate of 39% (target 50%). The average unclaimed-property claim response time was reported as 128 days against a 120-day target; committee members discussed whether response-time calculation methods may skew the average and requested follow-up information.

Representative Theresia (Representative Gomberg) praised the treasuryoutreach on unclaimed property and described constituent contact: "It's an easy process. I'm pleased that they've set it up to make it easy." Committee members agreed to seek additional clarifying information from treasury staff on several points, including the source mix for "other funds" (fees derived predominantly from investment management) and the inflation rate underlying price-list adjustments that affect the biennial budgets.

Formal actions: Senator Anderson moved approval of the LFO recommendation and later moved the final motion to advance Senate Bill 5542 as amended to the Ways and Means Full Committee with a due-pass recommendation; the subcommittee approved both motions with no recorded opposition. Representative Gomberg and Senator Manning were assigned carriers to take the bill to the House and Senate floors, respectively.

The subcommittee will monitor follow-up items requested for written response, including clarification of the unclaimed-property response-time calculation and the inflation assumption. The bill now moves to the full Ways and Means Committee for further consideration.