Source: United States Senator for Indiana Todd Young
“This money belongs to the people,” – Sen. Young.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced the Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2021 to help Americans claim more than $26 billion in unredeemed savings bonds. The bipartisan bill would require the U.S. 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.
“Treasury currently holds billions of dollars in unclaimed savings bonds that have been forgotten or lost. This money belongs to the people. Our Unclaimed Savings Bond Act would help Americans identify and access their unclaimed savings bonds,” said Senator Young. “I appreciate Indiana Treasurer of State Kelly Mitchell’s support as we work to help Americans get funds that are rightfully theirs.”
“The Treasury is sitting on billions of dollars that should be in Americans’ pockets—including more than $300 million that belong to Louisianians. Louisianians pay their taxes faithfully, and Washington needs to pay out these savings bonds. The Unclaimed Savings Bond Act would make sure states have what they need to get this money to its rightful owners—so they can invest it in what matters most to their families,” said Senator Kennedy.
Senators Young and Kennedy were joined by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), 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) to introduce this legislation.
The U.S. Treasury Department is currently holding more than $26 billion in matured, unredeemed U.S. savings bonds, most of which it deems lost, stolen, destroyed or “unclaimed.” Estimates indicate that $478 million in unclaimed savings bonds belong to Hoosiers. 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.
Bill text for the Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2021 is available here.
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