Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2417 To provide for payment of proceeds from savings bonds to a State with title to such bonds pursuant to the judgment of a court. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 1, 2019 Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To provide for payment of proceeds from savings bonds to a State with title to such bonds pursuant to the judg- ment of a court. 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 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PAYMENT TO STATES WITH TITLE TO UNDELIV- 6 ERED SAVINGS BONDS. 7 Section 3105 of title 31, United States Code, is 8 amended by adding at the end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2417.IS S2417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2417 IS ‘‘(f)(1) The Secretary shall recognize an order of a 1 court of competent jurisdiction that vests title to an appli- 2 cable savings bond with a State, regardless of whether the 3 State has possession of such bond, if— 4 ‘‘(A) such order is entered after December 31, 5 2012, and before January 1, 2026; and 6 ‘‘(B) the State provides the Secretary with a 7 certified copy of such order. 8 ‘‘(2)(A) If a State has title or is seeking to obtain 9 title through a judicial proceeding to an applicable savings 10 bond, the Secretary shall provide to the State, upon re- 11 quest, any reasonably available records or information— 12 ‘‘(i) relating to the purchase or ownership of 13 such bond, including any transactions involving such 14 bond; or 15 ‘‘(ii) which may provide the serial number or 16 other identifying information relating to such bond. 17 ‘‘(B) Any records or information provided to a State 18 pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be considered suffi- 19 cient to enable the State to redeem the applicable savings 20 bond for full value, regardless of whether the bond is lost, 21 stolen, destroyed, mutilated, defaced, or otherwise not in 22 the possession of the State. 23 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), a State may 24 redeem and receive payment for an applicable savings 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2417.IS S2417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2417 IS bond for which the State has title pursuant to the same 1 procedures established pursuant to regulations which are 2 available for payment or redemption of a savings bond by 3 any owner of such bond. 4 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may not prescribe any regulation 5 which prevents or prohibits a State from obtaining title 6 to an applicable savings bond or redeeming such bond pur- 7 suant to the procedures described in subparagraph (A). 8 ‘‘(C) In the case of an applicable savings bond which 9 is lost, stolen, destroyed, mutilated, defaced, or otherwise 10 not in the possession of the State, if the State has re- 11 quested records and information under paragraph (2)(A), 12 any applicable period of limitation for payment or redemp- 13 tion of such bond shall not begin to run against the State 14 until the date on which the Secretary has provided the 15 State with the records and information described in such 16 paragraph. 17 ‘‘(4)(A) If the United States Government makes pay- 18 ment to a State for an applicable savings bond pursuant 19 to paragraph (3)(A)— 20 ‘‘(i) the United States Government shall not re- 21 tain any further obligation or liability relating to 22 such bond, including any obligation or liability with 23 respect to the registered owner of such bond (as de- 24 scribed in paragraph (5)(B)); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2417.IS S2417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2417 IS ‘‘(ii) such bond shall not be redeemable by the 1 Secretary or any paying agent authorized to make 2 payments to redeem such bonds. 3 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘appli- 4 cable savings bond’ means a matured savings bond, and 5 all payment of such bond, including interest, for which 6 such bond— 7 ‘‘(A) was originally in paper, paperless, or elec- 8 tronic form; 9 ‘‘(B) is registered to an owner with a last 10 known address that is within the State described in 11 paragraph (1); and 12 ‘‘(C) has not been redeemed by such owner.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2417.IS S2417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS