Washington, D.C. - Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined U.S. Senator John Kennedy’s (R-La.) bipartisan Unclaimed Savings Bond Act to help Americans claim an estimated $29 billion in unredeemed savings bonds, including $440 million in bonds that belong to the people of Colorado.
“As Coloradans continue to face high costs, we should do everything we can to reunite Coloradans with millions of dollars in unclaimed property,” said Bennet. “I’m glad to join this bipartisan effort to help Colorado identify the owners of these bonds so that they can access the money that is rightfully theirs.”
"Our goal with the Great Colorado Payback, Colorado's Unclaimed Property Program, is to reunite unclaimed property - including unclaimed savings bonds - with their rightful owners. This bill will help us reunite Coloradans with an estimated $440 million in unredeemed savings bonds. I want to thank Sen. Bennet for his leadership in cosponsoring this important legislation," said Dave Young, Colorado State Treasurer and former President of National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.
The Treasury Department is currently holding an estimated $29 billion in matured, unredeemed U.S. savings bonds, most of which the Treasury deems lost, stolen, destroyed or “unclaimed.” Many of these bonds were issued more than 70 years ago and have matured, meaning they no longer earn interest for bondholders.
In cases in which bonds are not physically possessed by their rightful holders, only the Treasury has the names and addresses of the original bond owners. The Treasury also has the serial numbers needed to claim the bond proceeds.
While the Treasury hosts Treasury Hunt, an online search tool that allows bond owners to locate bond information, Individual states conduct extensive, proactive programs that reconnect their citizens with unclaimed property. The senators’ bill would require the Treasury to provide states information about matured and unclaimed bonds so these states can use unclaimed property programs to help find the original owners (or heirs of those original owners) of these bonds. This provision would only apply to unredeemed bonds that matured before 2018.
In addition to Bennet and Kennedy, this legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and James Risch (R-Idaho).
The bill text is available HERE.
