The challenge is simple: The federal government holds $30 billion in mature, unredeemed U.S. savings bonds. Most of the unclaimed bonds come from the early-to-mid 20th century, when traditional banking systems excluded Black Americans and other racial minorities. It is likely that many of the owners — or their survivors —of these 87 million unredeemed bonds, purchased decades ago, are Black or people of color.
The solution is equally simple: Give states such as Illinois, which already has a stellar track record of proactively returning missing money, the ability to use state resources to find the people who purchased the bonds and return their money to them.
For generations, U.S. savings bonds have been a staple for family gifts celebrating birthdays, holidays and graduations. Each bond is, effectively, a loan to the…
