Treasurer candidates face off on unclaimed property ad campaign

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BY NATE JENKINS / Lincoln Journal Star

State Treasurer Ron Ross is spending roughly $200,000 in state funds on television ads and a public-relations consultant. He says it could result in a big payoff for Nebraskans.

His opponent in the race for state treasurer, Shane Osborn, says Ross may actually be seeking another sort of payoff: A boost to his election campaign.

Ross on Tuesday announced a statewide initiative to educate business and organizations about the state’s unclaimed property law. The law requires them to turn such unclaimed property as uncashed paychecks, dividends and even money from unused gift certificates over to the state. A division of the treasurer’s office then tries to return the property to rightful owners.

Ross says the state has collected and returned more unclaimed property under his watch. More than $17.8 million in unclaimed property was reported to the state last fiscal year, up from $13.8 million the year before. A decade ago, less than $5 million was reported.

The amount returned to Nebraska owners last year — $6.6 million — was about $1 million more than the year before.

But promotional efforts in other states including Iowa, which recently saw a 39 percent jump in property collections, show that more can be done, Ross said.

His plan includes television ads in which he explains the law, a statewide sweep of seminars for businesses and auditing of businesses suspected of illegally holding unclaimed property.

“We’re not talking pennies here,” Ross said of unclaimed property that could be returned. “We’re talking potential for millions of dollars.”

Osborn said the timing of the promotional campaign is not a coincidence. Ross has until the end of the year to lend his name and face to the promotional campaign paid for with money from the unclaimed property fund.

After former State Treasurer Lorelee Byrd used her name and picture in newspaper and television advertising of unclaimed property, the Legislature passed a law that prohibits some elected leaders from using their names on promotional material paid for with state funds during an election year.

The first round of the current slate of TV ads started Nov. 1. Different ads, also featuring Ross, will begin later this month. More ads that don’t use Ross could be aired in the spring.

Osborn said the promotional campaign’s focus on collecting more property instead of returning what the state already has — roughly $50 million —  puts the “cart before the horse.”

“He’s focusing on the wrong thing,” Osborn said. “This is the people’s money, and the focus should be on bringing that money back.”

Osborn said the office could do a better job of tracking down owners of unclaimed property using technology familiar to Nebraska companies. Ross pointed out that he added a staff member to track down owners, and said the move has paid off.

Ross was appointed in 2004 by then-Gov. Mike Johanns to replace Byrd, who left amid an investigation into financial irregularities in her office. He said the unclaimed property promotion is not an effort to raise his public profile and suggested it could actually hurt his election campaign. But, he said, he decided to do it anyway.

“It’s my job to do this job, and I’m going to spend a few dollars if I believe it’s going to bring back millions to Nebraskans,” he said.

The first two rounds of ads will cost a total of about $150,000. Another $20,000 will go to a Lincoln public relations firm, Parsons Public Relations.

Its president, Dan Parsons, has worked as a political consultant for former Attorney General Don Stenberg, who is now a candidate for U.S. Senate. Parsons served as Stenberg’s spokesman when he was attorney general.

Ross said Parsons is not working on his election campaign.

Reach Nate Jenkins at 473-7223 or njenkins@journalstar.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.