[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5269 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5269

 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 26, 2019

 Mr. Estes (for himself, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Timmons, 
  Mr. McAdams, Mr. Smith of Missouri, Mr. Beyer, Mr. LaHood, and Ms. 
   Sanchez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for payment of proceeds from savings bonds to a State with 
        title to such bonds pursuant to the judgment of a court.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. TRANSFER AND REDEMPTION OF ABANDONED SAVINGS BONDS.

    Section 3105 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(f)(1) Notwithstanding any other Federal law, the ownership of an 
applicable savings bond may be transferred pursuant to a valid judgment 
of escheatment vesting a State with title to the bond. Nothing in this 
section, or in any regulation promulgated by the Secretary to implement 
this section, may be construed to preempt State law providing for, or 
governing the escheatment of, applicable savings bonds.
    ``(2) The Secretary shall recognize an order of a court of 
competent jurisdiction that vests title to an applicable savings bond 
with a State, regardless of whether the State has possession of such 
bond, if the State provides the Secretary with a certified copy of such 
order.
    ``(3)(A) If a State has title or is seeking to obtain title through 
a judicial proceeding to an applicable savings bond, the Secretary 
shall provide to the State, upon request, the serial number of such 
bond, and any reasonably available records or information--
            ``(i) relating to the purchase or ownership of such bond, 
        including any transactions involving such bond; or
            ``(ii) which may provide other identifying information 
        relating to such bond.
    ``(B) Any records or information provided to a State pursuant to 
subparagraph (A) shall be considered sufficient to enable the State to 
redeem the applicable savings bond for full value, regardless of 
whether the bond is lost, stolen, destroyed, mutilated, defaced, or 
otherwise not in the possession of the State.
    ``(4)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), a State may redeem and 
receive payment for an applicable savings bond for which the State has 
title pursuant to the same procedures established pursuant to 
regulations which are available for payment or redemption of a savings 
bond by any owner of such bond.
    ``(B) The Secretary may not prescribe any regulation which prevents 
or prohibits a State from obtaining title to an applicable savings bond 
or redeeming such bond pursuant to the procedures described in 
subparagraph (A).
    ``(C) In the case of an applicable savings bond which is lost, 
stolen, destroyed, mutilated, defaced, or otherwise not in the 
possession of the State, if the State has requested records and 
information under paragraph (3)(A), any applicable period of limitation 
for payment or redemption of such bond shall not begin to run against 
the State until the date on which the Secretary has provided the State 
with the records and information described in such paragraph.
    ``(5)(A) If the United States Government makes payment to a State 
for an applicable savings bond pursuant to paragraph (4)(A)--
            ``(i) the United States Government shall not retain any 
        further obligation or liability relating to such bond, 
        including any obligation or liability with respect to the 
        registered owner of such bond (as described in paragraph 
        (7)(B)); and
            ``(ii) such bond shall not be redeemable by the Secretary 
        or any paying agent authorized to make payments to redeem such 
        bonds.
    ``(6) This subsection shall apply to an applicable savings bond 
issued before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this 
subsection.
    ``(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term `applicable savings 
bond' means a matured savings bond, and all payment of such bond, 
including interest, that--
            ``(A) was originally in paper, paperless, or electronic 
        form;
            ``(B) is registered to an owner with a last known address 
        within a State claiming title under a valid escheatment order 
        entered after December 31, 2012, and before January 2026; and
            ``(C) has not been redeemed by such owner.''.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION TO PENDING ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.

    Neither the Attorney General nor the Secretary of the Treasury may 
proceed in any civil action or other enforcement proceeding that is 
pending on the date of the enactment of this Act that arose out of the 
efforts of a State to redeem one or more applicable savings bonds if 
the position of the Government is inconsistent with the amendments made 
by this Act.
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