Treasurer says IT overhaul proceeding; unclaimed property payouts rising after conversion work

Todd Russell, State Treasurer, briefed the subcommittee on a multi‑year IT modernization project, unclaimed property system conversion and investment performance.

Russell said the treasury is about two‑thirds to three‑quarters through a planned conversion and anticipates completing the parallel phase in spring with full conversion soon after. He noted carryover and restricted revolving funds used for specific divisions cannot be repurposed for core operations and that roughly $1.4 million of FY24 carryover was used on the technology project.

On unclaimed property, Russell said the office paid out about $39 million this year and expects $40–60 million next year, possibly growing toward $100 million annually within two to three years if cross‑agency data matching improves. He credited a recent legislative change that reduced costly newspaper publication requirements for listings.

Russell highlighted investment performance: "I'm thrilled to report that last year, we generated $450,000,000 on that," referring to returns on the general‑fund portfolio, which he said is roughly $18 billion. He also described the legacy capital fund and noted some administrative awkwardness in how the program was handed to the treasury without administrative dollars.

Members followed up on publication threshold changes and carryover use; Russell said he appreciated legislative changes and that restricted funds remain tied to their statutory purposes.