Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4085 To allow for the transfer and redemption of abandoned savings bonds. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 23, 2021 Mr. ESTES (for himself, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. KIND, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. TIMMONS, Mr. BEYER, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. PANETTA, and Mr. HORSFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To allow for the transfer and redemption of abandoned savings bonds. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unclaimed Savings 4 Bond Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Tens of billions of dollars’ worth of savings 8 bonds have never been redeemed by their owners, in- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4085 IH cluding millions of bonds that matured years and 1 even decades ago. The Department of the Treasury 2 refers to these bonds as Matured Unredeemed Debt 3 (‘‘MUD’’). 4 (2) The United States savings bond program 5 was created to fund critical government operations 6 during times of national need while guaranteeing to 7 citizens the promise of a safe return. 8 (3) The States are the traditional custodians of 9 abandoned property and are best positioned to help 10 owners of abandoned bonds recover the proceeds of 11 their investment. 12 (4) Until abandoned property is claimed, the 13 States are able to devote unclaimed funds to the 14 health and welfare of their citizens. 15 (5) Allowing States to utilize the proceeds of 16 abandoned savings bonds provides them with liquid- 17 ity and the ability to serve their citizens without in- 18 creasing the Federal deficit. 19 SEC. 3. TRANSFER AND REDEMPTION OF ABANDONED SAV- 20 INGS BONDS. 21 Section 3105 of title 31, United States Code, is 22 amended by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(f)(1) Notwithstanding any other Federal law, the 24 ownership of an applicable savings bond may be trans- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4085 IH ferred pursuant to a valid judgment of escheatment vest- 1 ing a State with title to the bond. Nothing in this section, 2 or in any regulation promulgated by the Secretary to im- 3 plement this section, may be construed to preempt State 4 law providing for, or governing the escheatment of, appli- 5 cable savings bonds. 6 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall recognize an order of a court 7 of competent jurisdiction that vests title to an applicable 8 savings bond with a State, regardless of whether the State 9 has possession of such bond if the State provides the Sec- 10 retary with a certified copy of such order. 11 ‘‘(3)(A) If a State has title or is seeking to obtain 12 title through a judicial proceeding to an applicable savings 13 bond, the Secretary shall provide to the State, upon re- 14 quest, the serial number of such bond, and any reasonably 15 available records or information— 16 ‘‘(i) relating to the purchase or ownership of 17 such bond, including any transactions involving such 18 bond; or 19 ‘‘(ii) which may provide other identifying infor- 20 mation relating to such bond. 21 ‘‘(B) Any records or information provided to a State 22 pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be considered suffi- 23 cient to enable the State to redeem the applicable savings 24 bond for full value, regardless whether the bond is lost, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4085 IH stolen, destroyed, mutilated, defaced, or otherwise not in 1 the State’s possession. 2 ‘‘(4)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), a State may 3 redeem and receive payment for an applicable savings 4 bond for which the State has title pursuant to the same 5 procedures established pursuant to regulations which are 6 available for payment or redemption of a savings bond by 7 any owner of such bond. 8 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may not prescribe any regulation 9 which prevents or prohibits a State from obtaining title 10 to an applicable savings bond or redeeming such bond pur- 11 suant to the procedures described in subparagraph (A). 12 ‘‘(C) In the case of an applicable savings bond which 13 is lost, stolen, destroyed, mutilated, defaced, or otherwise 14 not in the possession of the State, if the State has re- 15 quested records and information under paragraph (3)(A), 16 any applicable period of limitation for payment or redemp- 17 tion of such bond shall not begin to run against the State 18 until the date on which the Secretary has provided the 19 State with the records and information described in such 20 paragraph. 21 ‘‘(5) If the United States Government makes pay- 22 ment to a State for an applicable savings bond pursuant 23 to paragraph (4)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4085 IH ‘‘(A) that State shall attempt to locate the 1 original owner of each such bond registered with an 2 address in that State pursuant to the same stand- 3 ards and requirements as exist under that State’s 4 abandoned property rules and regulations; 5 ‘‘(B) except as provided in subparagraph (C), 6 the United States Government shall not retain any 7 further obligation or liability relating to such bond, 8 including any obligation or liability with respect to 9 the registered owner of such bond (as described in 10 paragraph (6)); 11 ‘‘(C) should a State that receives payment for 12 an applicable savings bond pursuant to paragraph 13 (4) fail to make payment to a registered owner of 14 such bond (as described in paragraph (6)(B)) after 15 presentment of a valid claim of ownership pursuant 16 to that State’s abandoned property rules and regula- 17 tions, such owner may then seek redemption of their 18 bond through the Secretary or any paying agent au- 19 thorized by the United States Government to make 20 payments to redeem such bonds, and it shall be 21 paid; and 22 ‘‘(D) where the United States Government has 23 made payment of an applicable savings bond under 24 subparagraph (C), the respective State shall indem- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4085 IH nify the United States for payments made on such 1 bond. 2 ‘‘(6) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘appli- 3 cable savings bond’ means any United States savings bond 4 that— 5 ‘‘(A) matured on or before December 31, 2017; 6 ‘‘(B) is registered to an owner with a last 7 known address within a State claiming title under a 8 valid escheatment order entered after December 31, 9 2012, and before January 2026; and 10 ‘‘(C) has not been redeemed by such owner.’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4085.IH H4085 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS