What's happening
This bill directs the State Comptroller to study and report on the feasibility of automatically returning unclaimed funds to owners.
Why it matters
Could lead to proactive government action to reunite people with their money. If found feasible, automatic return of unclaimed funds could mean New Yorkers would no longer need to navigate a bureaucratic process to reclaim money that is rightfully theirs.
Potential to reduce government-held unclaimed funds and improve public trust. Automatically returning funds could shrink the amount of money held by the state and demonstrate responsiveness to citizens, possibly boosting trust in government operations.
Study could identify operational, legal, and privacy challenges. The report will likely examine obstacles such as verifying rightful ownership, safeguarding personal information, and necessary changes to existing laws or administrative processes.
Recommendations could drive broader legislative changes. Depending on the Comptroller’s findings, this could set the stage for future laws that make New York a leader in consumer protection and government efficiency regarding unclaimed property.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Study Returning Unclaimed Money
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to finance
- Referred to finance
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
994
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by Sen. ROLISON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
AN ACT to direct the Office of the New York State Comptroller to conduct a study on the feasibility of automatically returning unclaimed funds held by such office to the rightful owners of such funds and to deliver a report of its findings
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. (a) The Office of the New York State Comptroller shall conduct a study on the feasibility of automatically returning unclaimed funds held by such office to the rightful owners of such funds immediately upon receipt of the funds by the comptroller's office and without having the rightful owner of the funds apply for their return. The study shall include the potential automatic return of unclaimed funds currently held by the comptroller's office and such funds received by the office in the future.
(b) No later than January 1, 2026, the Office of the New York State Comptroller shall deliver a report of its findings to the Governor, the Temporary President of the Senate, the minority leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly and the minority leader of the Assembly. Such report shall include the results of the study and recommendations for any legislative action that would be required to make unclaimed funds automatically returned to the rightful owner of the funds.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02818-01-5
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to direct the Office of the New York State Comptroller to conduct a study on the feasibility of automatically returning unclaimed funds held by such office to the rightful owners of such funds and to deliver a report of its findings
Purpose
To direct Office of the New York State Comptroller to conduct a study on the feasibility of automatically returning unclaimed funds and deliver a report to the governor and legislature.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 (a) Directs the Office of the New York State Comptroller to conduct a study on the feasibility of automatically returning unclaimed funds to their rightful owners.
(b) No later than January 1, 2026 the Office of the New York State Comp- troller shall deliver a report of its findings to the governor and legislature. The report shall include the results of the study and recommendations for any legislative action that would be required to make unclaimed funds automatically returned to their rightful owner.
Section 2 states the effective date.
Justification
As more states move to return unclaimed funds to their residents auto- matically, New York must take action to do the same.
According to a recent Newsday op-ed only 41% of unclaimed funds are returned in New York compared to 62% in Illinois and 92% in Wisconsin.1 New Yorkers deserve a more straightforward process to have their money returned.
This legislation would require the Office of the New York State Comp- troller to conduct a study on the feasibility of automatically returning unclaimed funds and make recommendation on legislative action needed to do so.
Legislative history
2024 S8387: Referred to Finance
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
Immediately. (1)https://www.newsday.com/opinion/editorials/ny- unclaimed-funds-state-comptroller-ijy7ye2r
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.