Treasurer Shane Osborn & State Sen. John Nelson Aim to Reunite Nebraskans with Lost Money

Lincoln, Neb. – Nebraska State Treasurer Shane Osborn and State Senator John Nelson of Omaha announced the introduction of LB 432, which is aimed at returning millions of dollars in uncashed state checks back to Nebraska residents.

LB 432 would require state agencies to deliver the record of uncashed state checks to the Treasurer, who would then assume the responsibility of actively pursuing these individuals in order to reunite them with their money.

In the past fiscal year alone, $2.5 million dollars of state-issued payroll, vendor, and tax refund checks have gone uncashed. Once a check passes the expiration date of one year, there is no proactive effort made to contact the recipient to inform or remind them about the money.

“Right now, many Nebraskans are feeling the strains of an uncertain economy and this bill would provide them with immediate and much-needed financial help,” Treasurer Osborn said. “Since my office already conducts aggressive outreach and skip-tracing efforts to reunite owners with Unclaimed Property, this would be a logical, cost-neutral extension of the program.”

"LB 432 will enable the State Treasurer to more quickly identify and locate the owners of state issued checks which have not been presented for payment,” State Senator John Nelson said. “Treasurer Osborn is to be commended for his initiative and effort in returning these unclaimed funds to Nebraskans.  Every dollar counts during this economic crisis."

Additionally, the Treasurer will also list the names of those individuals with uncashed state checks on his website, include them in the annual Unclaimed Property newspaper ad, and contact them through direct mail announcements.

Treasurer Osborn is asking for no additional funding to process and pay what may amount to $10 million in unclaimed funds. He will facilitate the additional workload without hiring more staff.

Said Osborn: “I would just like thank Sen. Nelson for agreeing to sponsor this bill in the Legislature and for sharing my enthusiasm for reuniting lost and forgotten money with the hard-working taxpayers of our state.”