AG wants unclaimed bonds in state's hands

Jennifer Mckee

Oct. 21, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- HELENA -- Montana's Attorney General Steve Bullock was on a national cable news show Tuesday explaining why he thinks Montana -- not the federal government -- should be in charge of finding Montana owners to $55 million in old, unclaimed war bonds.

Bullock was interviewed on the program "Squawk on the Street," on CNBC Tuesday morning, laying out a case that he and other attorneys general are preparing in a showdown against the U.S. Treasury.

"It's the government that's holding the property and we've gone on 30 years now and the property hasn't been given back," he said in an interview after his television appearance.

Some $16 billion in war bonds sold to finance World War II remain unclaimed. The U.S. Treasury is responsible for the money and has set up a Web site where people may enter their Social Security numbers to see if any of it belongs to them.

Roughly $55 million belongs to Montanans. The bonds began maturing in 1981.

Bullock and other state attorneys general maintain that the federal government hasn't done a good job getting the bonds to their rightful owners.

Bullock said on the show that states have long had the duty of finding owners of unclaimed property.

The federal government has never had that duty, he said, and states are better equipped to handle dispersing these bonds, too.

Should the states prevail, the $55 million owed Montanans would go to the Department of Revenue, where it would generate interest for the state while Montana worked to find the owners of the bonds.

The federal government has maintained that the vast majority of the bonds sold were redeemed and many people already know about those remaining but choose not to cash them in.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0032-39038307