Committee backs Ways and Means amendment to H.567 to shore up Vermont Saves while protecting higher-education trust

The House Government Operations & Military Affairs committee on Wednesday took a favorable position on a Ways and Means amendment to H.567, a bill that shifts how small unclaimed property is allocated between the state’s higher-education endowment and a new retirement-security administrative fund.

Representative Bridget Burker (South Burlington), the amendment reporter, told the committee the bill raises the threshold for sweeping unclaimed property from $100 to $150 and would create a roughly $2.9 million increase in available funds in the first year. "The idea is that they think that the retirement security fund will be at self-sustainability in about two or three years," Burker said, describing the Treasurer’s plan to seed the Vermont Saves administrative fund and then gradually divert more revenue back to the higher-education trust fund as the retirement program becomes solvent.

Why it matters: The Vermont Higher Education Endowment Trust Fund currently receives small unclaimed-property sums (historically from accounts under $100 held 10 years or more) to fund scholarships at institutions including the University of Vermont, Vermont State University (formerly Vermont State Colleges) and VSAC. Lawmakers and the Treasurer’s Office sought a way to support the new Vermont Saves opt-out retirement program’s administrative costs while preserving the endowment’s long-term revenue stream.

Assistant counsel Cameron Wood walked members through the amendment’s language. Wood said the amendment keeps the threshold at $150, directs the treasurer to deposit funds into the Vermont retirement security fund "up to 300,000," and gives the Treasurer discretion in a subsection to divert some of those funds back to the higher-education trust fund "if it's appropriate." He added the draft includes a sunset provision that would return all such funds to the higher-education endowment on Jan. 1, 2040.

Details discussed in committee included: - Vermont Saves scale and finances: Burker said the program has reached about 5,500 participants and roughly $5 million in assets, which Brownlow described as insufficient to cover ongoing administrative costs without supplemental funding. - One-time increase and intent: Raising the threshold to $150 produces a one-time larger sweep (estimated at about $2.9 million). Committee members and counsel clarified that the amendment is intended to allow the Treasurer’s Office to retain funds beyond a $300,000 annual cap so those sums can be disbursed across multiple years rather than moving the excess immediately to the higher-education trust fund. - Sunset and timing: The amendment sets Jan. 1, 2040, as the date when the temporary diversion ends; after that date, funds under the threshold would revert to the Vermont Higher Education Endowment Trust Fund.

During the discussion counsel also noted technical fixes incorporated in a related Appropriations amendment addressing drafting errors and the removal of positions tied to other language in the bill.

The committee registered a favorable show-of-hands on the Ways and Means amendment; a member acting as reporter confirmed the amendment will be carried to the House floor later the same day. No formal roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript.