Pennsylvania Reduces Dormancy Periods
On July 10, Pennsylvania House Bill 278 was approved by the Governor. The 112 page budget bill makes a number of legislative changes, but for purposes of this blog the most notable is the reduction in dormancy period for most property types from 5 years to 3 years. What's behind the Pennsylvania push for shorter dormancy periods? As usual, it appears to be a response to a nearly $1 billion budget deficit. According to a Fiscal Study by the Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee, "it is estimated that the reduction in holding period for the newly identified classes of unclaimed property will generate $150,000,000 in revenue for the General Fund in 2014." There are a number of problems, however, with this statement: First, with the exception of a clarification regarding IRA accounts, the new legislation does not contain any "newly identified classes of property"; rather, it simply shortens the dormancy period for the classes of property already