The Joint Appropriations Committee heard the State Treasurer’s office describe several exception requests driven by growth in assets under management and recent surges in unclaimed property receipts. The treasurer and deputy highlighted requests for a senior investment officer, ongoing due-diligence funding, and unclaimed-property operational spending.

Deputy Treasurer Dawn Williams summarized exception requests across the office’s four divisions (investment, financial accounting, unclaimed property, administration). The treasurer described internal investing and a multi-year increase in assets under management—citing a rise from approximately $19 billion in 2018 to roughly $33 billion today—which the office said requires additional staffing and due-diligence capacity.

The office asked for one additional senior investment officer to assume responsibilities for hedge funds and opportunistic investments after the CIO’s retirement; the biennial cost presented was $597,179 (benefits included). The office also requested $320,000 (biennial) for outside due-diligence consultants beyond the contracted consultant allowance to perform deep dives on potential opportunities (the office referenced data centers, real estate, and private assets as examples). Officials said existing contracts provide only a limited number of deep dives and the amount requested would fund several such engagements.

On unclaimed property, the treasurer’s office asked for $62,200 split among a $15,000 correction for where maintenance costs are budgeted, $7,200 for a multilingual chatbot to handle international claimants (including recent cryptocurrency-related inflows), and $40,000 for a fraud-prevention module. The office said the unclaimed property trust account holds about $300 million and that the division is funded by its investment earnings; the office keeps interest and uses earnings to support operations.

Other unclaimed-property requests included $14,000 for increased postage (statutory due-diligence mailing requirements), $6,260 for security-equipment replacement to safekeep physical property, and a request to add an in-house unclaimed-property attorney to handle complex claims and litigation support. Committee members pressed on whether the attorney should be in-house or a contract resource; the office said an in-house position provides continuity and is cost-effective compared with high hourly outside counsel.

Treasurer staff also described a set of net-to-zero transfers and housekeeping moves to consolidate investment and accounting personnel across units to improve efficiencies. The session closed with committee members asking for historical account balances and additional documentation; no appropriations were finalized during the hearing.