Odds are state has money for you

OLYMPIA – I’ll just say this out the outset: please do not call me about what you are about to read. The last time I wrote about this, I got calls for weeks.

That said, here’s the news: The odds are pretty good that the state of Washington is holding at least a little money that belongs to you.

Under state law, banks, insurers, utility companies and similar entities must turn over unclaimed money or property to the state after a certain period of not hearing from the owner. In most cases, that’s three years.

Most of the property is cash or old shares of stock, but the state also gets the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes: jewelry, old photos, love letters, even once a pair of false teeth. Every few years, the state auctions those items off, saving the money for anyone who might someday claim it.

There is no time limit for filing a claim. Some of the unclaimed money in Washington’s database dates back to the mid-1950s.

As you’d expect, most of the abandoned accounts are small. Although some are worth thousands of dollars, the state database includes plenty of old accounts worth only $25 to $50.

Still, it adds up. The state Department of Revenue is now sitting on about $600 million owed to about 3 million people. Trying to pare that number down, the agency has started sending letters to the last known addresses of people owed more than $75. Last year, it returned a record $39 million to more than 82,000 folks. But while they were doing that, another $100 million in unclaimed money rolled in.

The database includes businesses, too. A quick check shows the state is holding money for nearly 500 entities with the word “Spokane” in them.

So how do you find out if you’re owed money?

The easiest way is to go to the state’s online database: www.claimyourcash.org. (Make sure you get that .org right.) After an annoying “how’d you hear about us” question, it will take you to page where you can type in a name or a business and find out what’s owed, where it came from, and roughly how much. You can even file the claim online.

Don’t have Internet access? Then call the state’s Unclaimed Property Section at (800) 435-2429. Or you can write them, at Department of Revenue, Unclaimed Property Section, P.O. Box 47477, Olympia, WA 98504-7477.

Reader bonus: If you’ve ever lived or done business in Idaho, you might want to check their program as well, at http://tax.idaho.gov/ucp_search.htm or (800) 972-7660, then press 5. The Idaho Web site also includes links to other states’ unclaimed property programs. Happy hunting.

She led them west – and then she voted …

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer was recently in Seattle, urging people to donate to Okanogan rancher Peter Goldmark’s run for state lands commissioner.

Warming up the crowd in an art pavilion overlooking Seattle’s sculpture park, Schweitzer told the story from Lewis and Clark’s travels.

The explorers were lost, Schweitzer joked, and being men, were reluctant to ask for directions. So they turned to a woman – Sacajawea – who led them across Montana’s rivers to the west.

“And they came to this place we now call Washington. As it turns out, the whole damned place is run by women!” he continued, to cheers. “And it’s amazing how organized it is. Everything’s picked up, cleaned up … what a wonderful place.”

A refugee runs again

Undeterred by her 33 percent showing against Democratic state Rep. Alex Wood two years ago, Spokane Republican Laura Carder has filed campaign paperwork for a rematch.

She said she’d really like to see someone challenge state Sen. Lisa Brown, who’s running for re-election in the same central-Spokane district.

“But I would like somebody with a little more clout to run against her,” said Carder. “And, frankly, I still have all these signs that say ‘state representative.’ That’s the main reason.”

Carder, a former computer programmer and community volunteer describes herself as a Ron Paul Republican. She blasts illegal immigrants on her campaign Web page, describes herself as a political refugee from Southern California, and describes an alma mater as “San Francisco ‘Socialist’ University.”

Carder acknowledges that the district tilts heavily Democratic, but says she’s hoping to win by campaigning against property tax increases, for proper nutrition, and “getting rid of the indoctrination” in schools. On that last item, she said, she questions that humans are causing climate change – or even that it’s changing – and would like to see “creation science” taught in schools along with evolution. She’d also like to give hiring priority to U.S. citizens over noncitizens.

She said she ran in 2006 mainly so that the District 3 choices would include at least one non-Democrat. “I didn’t expect to win,” she said.

And this year?

“Well, it’s possible,” she said.

Either way, a Zag would win …

State Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst, a Gonzaga Law grad, was in Spokane recently, quietly launching her re-election campaign for a second six-year term.

“For me, it’s not about ideology,” she said in a campaign announcement. “It’s about making common sense decisions within the letter of the law.”

Once sleepy and relatively bland races, campaigns for a seat on the state’s highest court are increasingly becoming heated, big-money tussles. Two years ago, Chief Justice Gerry Alexander and Justice Susan Owens spent $267,000 and $290,00 winning re-election, and both were significantly outspent by challengers John Groen and Stephen Johnson.

This year, the conservative Building Industry Association of Washington has said it’s again likely to put its political clout – and dollars – behind a court candidate this year, most likely a challenger for Fairhurst’s seat. BIAW says its main issues on the court are open government records and defense of property rights.

On Monday, Seattle business attorney Michael J. Bond filed amended campaign paperwork that makes it clear: he’s challenging Fairhurst.

Bond is a fellow Gonzaga Law grad and former Marine lawyer. He has a pretty folksy YouTube video – handheld signs, banjo music – spelling out the many cases in which he’s defended professionals and businesses against liability claims. See my Web site, www.eyeonolympia.com, for links to both campaign Web sites.