A Message from the State Auditor
Senate Bill 14 and 'Data Match' is a step forward for Arkansas
By Dennis Milligan
Arkansas Auditor of State
Feb. 1 is National Unclaimed Property Day, and as your state auditor and Arkansas’ unclaimed property administrator, my job is to return people their missing money as it is reported to my office.
Unclaimed property is financial in nature, usually forgotten bank accounts, unpaid life insurance benefits, stock or mutual fund shares, or some other account that holds monetary or tangible items for which the owner has not initiated any activity for several years. When that happens and the bank or business entity cannot locate the owner of such accounts, the money or properties are submitted to my office. Nearly 33 million people in the United States – 1 in 7 – have unclaimed property.
In Arkansas, the odds are even better. With $400 million in unclaimed property, 1 in 4 Arkansans likely has unclaimed money with my office.
Let’s take it back a few years.
Prior to being elected as your Auditor of State, I served for 8 years as your Treasurer of State where I secured more than $600 million in investment returns for Arkansas.
When campaigning for state auditor, I made Arkansans two promises: I would convert the Auditor of State’s outdated payroll system to the Arkansas Administrative Statewide Information System, or AASIS, which most
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state agencies use. Second, I would be the Auditor of State who returned the most unclaimed property in history back to citizens.
In my first year as Auditor of State, I began the transition from an old, out-of-date accounting system to the AASIS system, and on July 1, 2024, that process was completed successfully. Making good on my second promise, I returned more than $36 million in unclaimed property back to citizens during my first full fiscal year in office – more money than any other fiscal year in at least the last decade.
Most people don’t know this about me, but I was a small businessman for 35 years, starting my own company from scratch and, with God’s blessing, expanding it into 17 states before selling it in 2020. That small business mentality still sticks with me today: I have never been one to sit around; I am constantly looking for ways to use my time in leadership to make state government more efficient and effective for the people I serve – Arkansans.
In my small business, improving efficiency and cutting red tape meant more success for my company. One of the ways I hope to do this at the State Capitol is by implementing a program we’re calling “Data Match.” I wish I could tell you the Data Match Initiative is my brainchild, but like all
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leaders, I spoke with my counterparts around the country and learned this is a best practice currently used by 24 other states, many of whom neighbor Arkansas.
This program would allow me to automatically send citizens a check for their unclaimed property, so long as the owners’ information is validated through several identity verification processes.
If the legislature gives me the authority this session through Senate Bill 14, we would be able to put millions of dollars back into the hands of Arkansans – removing the burden from citizens to get back what is rightfully owed to them in the first place.
There are nearly 360,000 eligible properties valued at more than $83 million that the Data Match Initiative would help us potentially remove from our rolls.
That is a substantial amount of money that could be put back into our state’s economy at a time when so many Arkansans are struggling from persistent inflation brought on by the Biden administration.
The reasons for my seeking out this legislation are simple: One, it’s the right thing to do.
This isn’t the state’s money; it belongs to the citizens.
Two, this bill will cut red tape and government bureaucracy by helping get citizens their unclaimed money more effectively.
Simply put, this is just good government – something Arkansans need and deserve.
It might be a little old-fashioned for a politician to keep his word, but if I learned anything in my small business it’s that your word is all you have and people expect results.
That small business mindset is how I have conducted my entire time in political office.
If we are successful with this program, I will keep my second promise to you and be the state auditor who returns the most unclaimed money in history back to citizens. Let’s get to work!
Dennis Milligan is the Arkansas Auditor of State.
Email: auditor. ar. gov.
