Senator says bill will let state use investment earnings to offset unclaimed-property costs; committee passes bill

Sen. John Payton, R-District 22, told the Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee that Senate Bill 454 would allow the state to retain interest and investment earnings on unclaimed property to help cover costs of managing the unclaimed-property program. "There is interest earned, investment money earned on these holdings, and we need a mechanism to be able to peel that off," Payton said. "It is not somebody else's money."

Payton said Auditor Dennis Milligan had joined the presentation at the committee table to answer questions, and described the change as a narrow mechanism to cover operational expenses of the state's unclaimed-property unit. "The state is managing that account and managing, looking for the people, and this would just help offset some of our expenses in operations and the management of the unclaimed property," he said.

Committee members asked no questions and no one signed up to speak for or against the bill. Payton closed by asking for a favorable vote. The committee moved to pass SB 454 on a motion by Payton, seconded by Sen. Sullivan; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. The record shows the motion carried after the chair called for ayes and noes and reported no opposition.

The bill text presented to the committee makes no changes to the underlying rules for how unclaimed property is identified or reported; sponsor remarks and committee discussion focused narrowly on authorizing the use of earnings from the holdings to pay administrative and management costs. No implementation details or fiscal estimates were provided in committee testimony; Auditor Milligan was present to answer follow-up fiscal questions if needed.