Unclaimed Property

If lawmakers are serious about reforming Maryland's tax code in the near future, they ought to reform the state's campaign finance laws first. The reason is simple: Tax laws are filled with loopholes and inequities because big political donors wield enormous influence. That's just as true in Annapolis as it is in Washington. And it will always be true - unless legislators embrace the public financing of campaigns. Want the General Assembly to pass your bill? Any lobbyist worth his Guccis will tell you that you first have to donate money to the appropriate pols.

There is an intriguing, not at all unpleasant, paradox about the Maryland State Fair. On one hand, it is largely a celebration of things rural, of a more natural way of life. (Alas, a slowly fading way of life, too: Since the early 1970s, agricultural land in the state has shrunk from more than 3 million acres to 2.5 million acres, though farming remains a $400 million-a-year industry in Maryland.)And yet the fair takes place in a congested suburb not far north of Baltimore, reachable by light rail and a smog-shrouded interstate.

Twenty-four county shoppers walked out of the Glen Burnie Mall Saturday a little richer than when they walked in.The two dozen men and women discovered a total of $2,000 in a computer search for unclaimed funds or valuables held by the state comptroller's office.The largest claim that turned up was $494, said Marvin A. Bond, spokesman for State Comptroller Louis Goldstein. The smallest was $59, and the oldest was an unclaimed 1979 Mass Transit Administration paycheck."Unclaimed money" comes from forgotten bank accounts, security deposits and insurance benefits, along with stocks and money from utilities companies.

A proposal aimed at reducing the influence of special interests in legislative campaigns by having Maryland taxpayers pay for them was debated in a state Senate committee yesterday. The bill's primary Senate sponsor, Prince George's County Democrat Paul G. Pinsky, said the bill would reduce the appearance of favoritism among legislators and enable candidates to focus on issues, not fundraisers. To be eligible for "public financing," candidates would have to raise seed money in sums of $5 or more from about 350 registered voters in their districts in addition to $6,750 in other contributions.

In Baltimore County Ruppersberger, Ports to discuss SB 509 on MPT program OWINGS MILLS - Baltimore County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger and state Del. James F. Ports Jr., a Perry Hall Republican, are scheduled to appear on Maryland Public Television's "Newsnight Maryland" on Wednesday to discuss Senate Bill 509, the county's condemnation law. The program will air at 7 p.m., said MPT's Colleen Wright. The appearance on MPT will be in addition to the seven debates Ruppersberger and Ports will hold around the county before the referendum in November on the law. Auction of recovered, unclaimed items to be held TOWSON - The Baltimore County Police Department will hold its annual auction of recovered and unclaimed property Sept.

Looking for a way to beat the heat and boredom of a torrid August afternoon, Karen Severson landed at what she called a "really cool" auction at the Columbia Hilton yesterday. Minutes into the state comptroller's sale of the contents of 200 unclaimed safe-deposit boxes, the Mayo resident owned an 1899 dollar bill and several Liberty head nickels. "I don't collect anything, but I had $20 to spend, and I thought this would be fun," Severson said. "I am hoping they get to the jewelry before too long."

Many people going to the Maryland State Fair will end up spending money on the funnel cakes and games of chance, but some, like Karen Sadler, will actually profit from the visit.Sadler is one of the 417 people who have found leads on accounts at the state comptroller's booth in the Exhibition Hall, where a crew of about six state workers run three computers to help people at the fair find unclaimed property from forgotten insurance proceeds, bank accounts, investment dividends and utility deposits.

Regulators nationwide are pushing life insurers to do a better job of tracking when policyholders die and locating the beneficiaries — an effort that could reap billions of dollars for consumers. Insurers regularly monitor Social Security's Death Master File to verify the death of a customer receiving annuity payments so they can cut off checks. But an ongoing, multistate investigation has found that life insurers haven't been using this information to identify policyholders who died and to pay beneficiaries.

An estimated $100 billion in personal assets have been mislaid and never found. Retirees and heirs are losing money and investments they could surely use. How does it happen that so much gets misplaced by so many? I got a letter from a snowbird that could explain one piece of the puzzle. Every winter he moves from Maine to Florida, going south with the robins. When the dogwoods bloom in the North, he flies back to Maine again."Everyone like me can give you horror stories of lost and misdirected mail," he writes.