State Treasury highlights investment gains, unclaimed‑property returns and launch of school transparency portal

State Treasurer John Fleming and Treasury staff briefed the House Appropriations Committee on the Treasury's FY26 recommendation and several operational efforts, including a newly launched school transparency portal, unclaimed property outreach and the administration of Hurricane Ida recovery grants.

Blair LeBlanc of the House Fiscal Division presented a $14.2 million FY26 recommendation for the Treasury, funded mostly by fees and self‑generated revenue; the largest program is the administrative program, which houses unclaimed property work. Treasurer John Fleming said Treasury achieved its highest rate of return on state investments in the past five years and credited both higher interest rates and the agency’s investment staff; he reported S&P upgraded Louisiana’s general obligation rating to AA in 2024 and said ongoing refinancing produced tens of millions in savings.

Fleming told lawmakers the Unclaimed Property Division returned more than $50 million to citizens in FY24 and currently maintains an escrow balance used for annual claims of about $153 million as of the prior Friday. Treasury staff described implementing an outside call center to handle routine inquiries about unclaimed property; Treasury said the change reduced claims processing times by approximately half and allowed in‑house staff to focus on complex claims.

Treasury announced it will make detailed, public data on every award, task order, memorandum of understanding, cooperative endeavor agreement (CEA) and contract for every public school system and charter school available on a new School Transparency Project portal. Fleming said the portal — required by legislation passed and shepherded in the Legislature — will be available by March 31 and will include award amounts and task‑order details for approximately 119 participating districts and charters.

Members pressed Treasury officials about lingering CEAs and local capacity to administer grants. Staff said Treasury is actively identifying CEAs that have expired, those that lack contact information, and those with reports due on June 30; the office maintains a public listing and is working to resolve roughly 1,700 CEAs and several hundred outstanding items carried forward from prior years. Fleming and staff asked legislators to assist by contacting local officials where CEAs are stalled.

Lawmakers also asked about the Hurricane Ida recovery grant program and about whether the unclaimed property call center is located in Louisiana; Treasury staff said the center is a third‑party specialist not located in‑state and offered to provide the exact location on request. Treasury staff noted the program has awarded nearly $25.9 million through cooperative endeavor agreements to eligible subdivisions in South Louisiana.

On bonds and investments, Fleming said the Bond Commission issued about $784 million in bonds in FY25 and that refinancing returned about $97.8 million in savings through 2024; he noted ongoing refunding work will likely increase savings. Members asked about the potential fiscal and rating impact of pending constitutional and tax changes; Treasury said it had not identified a negative effect to bond ratings but that rating agencies will watch reserves and structural balance over time.

Committee members praised unclaimed property staff for outreach and asked Treasury to continue helping smaller local governments manage CEAs and reporting obligations. Treasury said staff will continue monitoring and publishing CEA status and will work with legislators’ offices to resolve contacts and documentation issues.