Citizens across the nation could collect more than $16.5 billion in unclaimed U.S. savings bonds if Congress passes legislation recently introduced by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Pat Roberts, R-Kansas.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Citizens across the nation could collect more than $16.5 billion in unclaimed U.S. savings bonds if Congress passes legislation recently introduced by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Pat Roberts, R-Kansas.
West Virginia Treasurer John Perdue estimates West Virginians could recover up to $125 million in assets.
Perdue has been urging Congress to pass bond-recovery legislation since 2004, when he was president of the National Association of State Treasurers.
Rockefeller and Perdue estimate about 40 million bonds have never been redeemed nationally.
"We have been working on this for years," Perdue said on Tuesday. "I think it might have a shot this year. That $16.5 billion out there is the people's money.
"We should have the opportunity to return the bonds to their rightful owners or to their surviving loved ones."
Many of the bonds are Series E bonds, first issued in 1941, which began maturing in 1981, 40 years after they were issued. Series E bonds were sold until 1965.
Many Americans bought those bonds to support World War II efforts and to save for their children's education.
"A huge number of these bonds were bought by military veterans and senior citizens," Perdue said. "They had faith in their country and now we have to reward that loyalty by giving back their money."
Perdue believes state governments are best equipped to locate missing bond owners and their heirs.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Citizens across the nation could collect more than $16.5 billion in unclaimed U.S. savings bonds if Congress passes legislation recently introduced by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Pat Roberts, R-Kansas.
West Virginia Treasurer John Perdue estimates West Virginians could recover up to $125 million in assets.
Perdue has been urging Congress to pass bond-recovery legislation since 2004, when he was president of the National Association of State Treasurers.
Rockefeller and Perdue estimate about 40 million bonds have never been redeemed nationally.
"We have been working on this for years," Perdue said on Tuesday. "I think it might have a shot this year. That $16.5 billion out there is the people's money.
"We should have the opportunity to return the bonds to their rightful owners or to their surviving loved ones."
Many of the bonds are Series E bonds, first issued in 1941, which began maturing in 1981, 40 years after they were issued. Series E bonds were sold until 1965.
Many Americans bought those bonds to support World War II efforts and to save for their children's education.
"A huge number of these bonds were bought by military veterans and senior citizens," Perdue said. "They had faith in their country and now we have to reward that loyalty by giving back their money."
Perdue believes state governments are best equipped to locate missing bond owners and their heirs.
Every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico already operate successful programs to return unclaimed properties to their rightful owners.
"We have demonstrated over the years that we can reunite people with their missing assets," Perdue said. "If this legislation passes, we can begin the process of returning the $16.5 billion in U.S. Savings Bonds."
Perdue said his office has already located and returned more than $95 million in unclaimed assets to West Virginians.
"We have set the record among all the states in working to return unclaimed capital to our people. We have done a lot of work to recover bonds, CDs, bank accounts and insurance policies that matured but were misplaced," Pedue said. "We do a lot of work in senior centers around the state."
The legislation co-sponsored by Rockefeller sets up a pilot program for the U.S. Treasury to digitize records of matured savings bonds into a database that can be easily searched.
The bill also creates grants to help states create programs to notify bond owners and help them cash in their bonds. (Bondholders also have the option to continue holding their bonds.)
"During these trying economic times, we need to get money back into circulation. Our veterans and our senior citizens are all living on fixed incomes and desperately need a boost in their purchasing power," Perdue said.
The bill Rockefeller introduced requires bondholders to pay income taxes on earnings from their bonds, which would increase federal tax collections.
Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.
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