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Treasurer’s omnibus bill advances; Vermont Saves program to receive temporary transfer of unclaimed‑property funds
Summary
Senator White reported H.567 would raise unclaimed‑property thresholds, create a pension & benefits funding task force, transfer OPEB investments to VPIC, and temporarily redirect up to $300,000 a year from Higher Education Trust Fund transfers to support the Vermont Saves program until fiscal self‑sufficiency is reached.
Senator White, reporting for the Senate Government Operations Committee, described H.567 as the treasurer’s omnibus bill covering unclaimed property, state retirement systems and capital debt matters. The bill would raise the unclaimed‑property threshold (from $100 to $150), establish a pension and benefits funding task force (not authorized to consider benefit levels), move OPEB investment responsibility to the Vermont Pension Investment Committee (VPIC), and provide a temporary revenue path to help the Vermont Saves program scale up to financial self‑sufficiency.
White said Vermont Saves has enrolled roughly 6,000 participants who collectively have saved about $7,000,000. Under the bill, up to $300,000 annually would be redirected from the Higher Education Trust Fund to the retirement security fund beginning in fiscal year 2027 through January 2040; the bill’s proponents said the shift would not affect the general fund and that the trust fund may ultimately see higher unclaimed‑property receipts due to the raised threshold.
Senators on the floor asked detailed questions about the program’s timeline to self‑sufficiency and per‑year costs during the ramp; committee members offered to distribute charts with year‑by‑year projections. Appropriations reported some administrative costs related to moving OPEB functions (approximately $270,000 annually) and a $75,000 anticipated cost for the pensions/benefits funding task force (funding handled in the budget). The Senate ordered H.567 for third reading.
