Treasurer previews omnibus bill: unclaimed property changes, Vermont Saves funding and retirement safeguards
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Summary
The State Treasurer previewed an omnibus bill covering unclaimed property reforms (including insurer EOB identifiers), temporary funding for the Vermont Saves program and retirement/OPEB proposals, including a task force and requested actuarial support to manage pension/OPEB risk ahead of 2038 funding milestones.
The State Treasurer (speaker not named in the transcript) briefed the Senate Government Operations Committee on Jan. 8 about an omnibus bill with sections addressing unclaimed property, the Vermont Saves program, retirement and OPEB (other post-employment benefits) management.
Unclaimed property: The Treasurer said sections 1–5 would require medical insurers sending unclaimed payments to the state to include an explanation-of-benefits (EOB) identifier so the unclaimed property division can match funds to patients rather than institutions. Committee members raised HIPAA and legal-authority questions; the Treasurer said the office would examine privacy compliance and whether statutory authority would be needed to compel historical data from holders.
Vermont Saves funding: The Treasurer reported Vermont Saves—an auto-enroll Roth program for employees at small employers—has about 1,300 participating employers and 5,300 savers with roughly $5 million in assets in the first year. To bridge operating costs until the program becomes fully fee-sustainable, the Treasurer proposed a temporary transfer from unclaimed-property distributions to the Vermont Higher Education Trust Fund with caps and a plan to restore long-term funding to the trust.
Retirement and OPEB: Sections 6–23 cover retirement system changes. The Treasurer recommended expanding authority to levy penalties or interest on late or inaccurate employer contributions (bringing municipal and sheriff offices into parity with other systems) and asked for a small OPEB-focused task force and $75,000 for actuarial and technical support to reduce budgetary risk as the state approaches pension payoff timelines (2038 for pension; 2048 for OPEB). The Treasurer also proposed transferring day-to-day OPEB investment management to the Vermont Pension Investment Commission (VPIC) as assets grow.
Positions and customer service: The Treasurer said unclaimed-property claims rose from about 18,000 claims (~$3.8 million returned in FY23) to roughly 32,000 claims (~$9.45 million returned in FY25) and requested two unclaimed-property positions and one retirement policy/research position, funded from program proceeds rather than the general fund.
Questions and concerns: Senators asked about HIPAA compliance for insurer EOBs, whether the higher-education trust fund would be repaid, the potential effect of moving OPEB investments to VPIC on divestment goals, and whether VPIC had followed the state's terrorism/genocide-linked-countries policy regarding certain bond holdings. The Treasurer agreed to follow up with more detail and to provide requested materials.
Next steps: Committee members asked for follow-up materials (snapshot and disposition data from the Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs, legal analysis on EOB/HIPAA issues, and VPIC/treasurer responses on investment questions). The Treasurer said staff would supply those documents and return for further review.