Westlund shows Oregonians where their money is

State Senator Ben Westlund hasn’t won his race for State Treasurer yet, but he has a plan that sure sounds Treasurer-esque. 

Westlund, who is running against Allen Alley, is trying to show Oregonians their money: dubbing May “Claim Your Lost Money” month, the candidate announced a plan to file legislation in the next legislative session to move the administration of the Unclaimed Property Program from the Department of State Lands to the State Treasurer’s office. 

His campaign has also designed a special website to make it easier for Oregonians to search the Unclaimed Property Program for their names. 

The Unclaimed Property Program, a somewhat obscure program which holds assets such as un-cashed payroll checks, stock and bonds, safe-deposit box contents, insurance proceeds or refunds and bank accounts, receives an average of $38 million a year but only returns around $9 million.