Regular Session 2023-2024 House Bill 2092 P.N. 2672

PRINTER'S NO. 2672

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

2092

Session of

2024

INTRODUCED BY BIZZARRO, VENKAT, SCHLOSSBERG, KENYATTA, MADSEN,

McNEILL, KINSEY, CERRATO, MAYES, CONKLIN, SANCHEZ, HADDOCK,

PROBST, T. DAVIS, BOROWSKI, D. WILLIAMS, CIRESI, DALEY,

NEILSON, BELLMON AND MALAGARI, MARCH 8, 2024

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, MARCH 8, 2024

AN ACT

Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), entitled

"An act relating to the finances of the State government;

providing for cancer control, prevention and research, for

ambulatory surgical center data collection, for the Joint

Underwriting Association, for entertainment business

financial management firms, for private dam financial

assurance and for reinstatement of item vetoes; providing for

the settlement, assessment, collection, and lien of taxes,

bonus, and all other accounts due the Commonwealth, the

collection and recovery of fees and other money or property

due or belonging to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

including escheated property and the proceeds of its sale,

the custody and disbursement or other disposition of funds

and securities belonging to or in the possession of the

Commonwealth, and the settlement of claims against the

Commonwealth, the resettlement of accounts and appeals to the

courts, refunds of moneys erroneously paid to the

Commonwealth, auditing the accounts of the Commonwealth and

all agencies thereof, of all public officers collecting

moneys payable to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

and all receipts of appropriations from the Commonwealth,

authorizing the Commonwealth to issue tax anticipation notes

to defray current expenses, implementing the provisions of

section 7(a) of Article VIII of the Constitution of

Pennsylvania authorizing and restricting the incurring of

certain debt and imposing penalties; affecting every

department, board, commission, and officer of the State

government, every political subdivision of the State, and

certain officers of such subdivisions, every person,

association, and corporation required to pay, assess, or

collect taxes, or to make returns or reports under the laws

imposing taxes for State purposes, or to pay license fees or

other moneys to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the

Commonwealth," in disposition of abandoned and unclaimed

property, further providing for certificate of finder

registration, for notice and publication of lists of property

subject to custody and control of the Commonwealth under this

article, for income accruing after payment or delivery, for

deposit of funds, for determination of claims, for penalties

and for interdepartmental cooperation and providing for

annual report.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Section 1301.11a(a)1 and (b)3(iii) of the act of

April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, are

amended and subsection (b) is amended by adding a clause to

read:

Section 1301.11a. Certificate of Finder Registration.--(a)

Except for a person who is admitted to practice law before a

court of a Federal or State jurisdiction or subject to section

1301.11(i), a person may not on behalf of another:

1. engage in an activity, including advertising, soliciting

or offering to provide services, for the purpose of locating,

delivering, recovering or assisting in the recovery of abandoned

or unclaimed property; and

* * *

(b) An application for a certificate of registration shall

be in writing and on the form prescribed by the State Treasurer

and accompanied by a recent full face color photograph of the

applicant. In addition to information that may be requested by

the State Treasurer, the application shall provide the

following:

* * *

3. A statement that, to the applicant's knowledge, the

applicant is not the subject of an ongoing investigation or

prosecution involving an alleged violation of a provision of

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this article or an offense of:

* * *

(iii) perjury, false swearing, fraud or other offense as

enumerated in 18 Pa.C.S. Ch. 49 Subch. A or its equivalent if

committed in another jurisdiction; [and]

3.1. A statement that the applicant agrees to limit the

applicant's fee, compensation, commission or other remuneration

for the purpose of locating, delivering, recovering or assisting

in the recovery of abandoned or unclaimed property to no more

than fifteen per centum of the amount recovered; and

* * *

Section 2. Section 1301.12(b)3 of the act is amended,

subsection (b) is amended by adding a clause and the section is

amended by adding a subsection to read:

Section 1301.12. Notice and Publication of Lists of Property

Subject to Custody and Control of the Commonwealth under this

Article.--* * *

(b) The published notice shall be entitled "Notice of Names

of Persons Appearing to be Owners of Abandoned and Unclaimed

Property," and shall contain:

* * *

3. A statement that a proof of claim should be presented by

the owner to the holder within three (3) months from the date of

the published notice, and that thereafter claims should be filed

with the State Treasurer[.];

4. Information on how to access the Internet website of the

Treasury Department to search for any other unclaimed property

and information on the electronic transfer of moneys for the

payment of a claim allowed by the State Treasurer.

* * *

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(g) The State Treasurer shall maintain on the Internet

website of the Treasury Department the following information on

an ongoing basis:

1. A description of each unclaimed property held by the

Commonwealth.

2. A searchable database, including identifying information

kept by the State Treasurer, to assist an owner in identifying

the owner's unclaimed property.

3. Each report required under section 1301.29a.

4. Allow for electronic submission for documentation deemed

appropriate by the State Treasurer.

5. Authorize direct deposit of moneys by electronic transfer

for the payment of a claim allowed by the State Treasurer.

6. A list of each person with a certificate of registration

under section 1301.11a, the date that each certificate of

registration expires and notice when each certificate of

registration has been revoked or renewal has been refused by the

State Treasurer under section 1301.11b.

Section 3. Section 1301.15 of the act is amended to read:

Section 1301.15. Income Accruing After Payment or

Delivery.--[When] Except as provided under section 1301.18(c),

when property is paid or delivered to the State Treasurer under

this article, the owner is entitled to receive income or other

increments actually received by the State Treasurer.

Section 4. Section 1301.18(a) of the act is amended and the

section is amended by adding a subsection to read:

Section 1301.18. Deposit of Funds.--(a) Except as provided

in subsection (a.1), all funds received under this article,

including the proceeds from the sale of property under section

1301.17, shall forthwith be deposited by the State Treasurer in

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the General Fund of the Commonwealth except that the State

Treasurer shall retain in a separate trust fund an amount not

exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) plus [twenty]

twenty-five per centum of deposits and sums paid to the State

Treasurer under subsection (c) of section 1301.13 during the

preceding twelve (12) months from which the State Treasurer

shall make reimbursements under section 1301.14 and prompt

payment of claims duly allowed under section 1301.19. Before

making the deposit, the State Treasurer shall record the name

and last known address of each person appearing from the

holders' reports to be entitled to the property and of the name

and last known address of each insured person or annuitant, and

with respect to each policy or contract listed in the report of

an insurer, its number, the name of the insurer and the amount

due. The record with respect to any specific claim shall be

available to the claimant at all regular business hours.

* * *

deposits and sums paid to the State Treasurer under subsection

to implement an education and outreach campaign to inform the

public of the unclaimed property process, including through the

use of direct mailings, advertisements and educational

materials. The State Treasurer shall design educational

materials suitable for the direct mailings, including

information on finding and claiming unclaimed property. In

implementing this subsection, the State Treasurer shall enter a

memorandum of understanding with each State agency that contacts

the public for the purpose of including the educational

materials in other types of direct mailings, including State tax

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forms and annual professional licensure renewals, and to

prominently display a link to find and claim unclaimed property

on the publicly accessible Internet websites of each State

agency.

Section 5. Section 1301.20 of the act is amended by adding a

subsection to read:

Section 1301.20. Determination of Claims.--* * *

filed under this article and automatically return unclaimed

property held by the State Treasurer if all of the following

apply:

1. The person receiving the property is the owner of the

property.

2. The property is valued at ten thousand dollars ($10,000)

or less.

3. There is evidence sufficient to establish to the

reasonable satisfaction of the State Treasurer that the person

is the owner of the property.

4. Identifying information has been verified during the

preceding year in accordance with section 1301.28a.

(d) If the State Treasurer has identified a person who would

otherwise qualify for automatic reimbursement under subsection

(c), but the claim exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the

Treasury Department shall notify the person through the use of

the verified identifying information under section 1301.11 and

provide information on how to file a claim under this article.

(e) As used in this section, the term "person" shall include

an heir or assignee of a person and each individual or entity

specified in the definition of person as specified in section

1301.1 .

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Section 6. Section 1301.25(d) of the act is amended to read:

Section 1301.25. Penalties.--* * *

(d) A person who is found to have violated section 1301.11

or 1301.11a, in addition to other sanctions under this article,

shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree and shall,

upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed [one

thousand dollars ($1,000)] ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for

the first offense. A person who is found guilty of a

[subsequent] second offense shall be subject to a fine not to

exceed [five thousand dollars ($5,000).] fifteen thousand

dollars ($15,000). A person who is found guilty of a third or

subsequent offense shall be guilty of a felony of the third

degree and subject to a fine not to exceed one hundred thousand

dollars ($100,000).

Section 7. Section 1301.28a(c) of the act is amended and the

section is amended by adding a subsection to read:

Section 1301.28a. Interdepartmental Cooperation.--* * *

(b.1) For the purpose of implementing this article, the

State Treasurer shall have electronic access twenty-four (24)

hours per day to identifying information of individuals listed

in the Treasury Department's records as owners of unclaimed

property held by the Department of Revenue and Department of

State, including taxpayer data and corporate registration

information. The Department of Revenue and the Department of

State shall collaborate with the Treasury Department to

implement this subsection. T he General Assembly shall

appropriate such funds as it deems necessary and appropriate to

implement this subsection.

subsections (a) [and], (b) and (b.1), the Treasury Department

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shall keep the information confidential and shall use it solely

to assist in the process of returning unclaimed property to its

rightful owner.

Section 8. The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 1301.28c. Annual Report.--The State Treasurer shall

prepare an annual report on the status of unclaimed property in

this Commonwealth, including the amount of unclaimed property

remitted to the Commonwealth by county, the amount of unclaimed

property returned to the owner by county, the current balance of

unclaimed property held by the Commonwealth by county and the

actions taken by the State Treasurer under section 1301.18(c) to

increase awareness of unclaimed property and the cost incurred

for the actions. The State Treasurer shall submit the report no

later than July 30 of each year to the chair and minority chair

of the Appropriations Committee of the Senate and chair and

minority chair of the Appropriations Committee of the House of

Representatives.

Section 9. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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