The Empire State is holding nearly $21 billion that belongs to everyday people — and now one Republican candidate wants to make it easier to cash out.
Joseph Hernandez, who is running for state comptroller against longtime Democratic incumbent Tom DiNapoli, said taxpayers are being forced to jump through hoops to get the money held in the state’s massive “unclaimed funds” accounts overseen by the comptroller’s office.
“Albany is sitting on $21 billion of your money, spending it like an interest-free loan you never agreed to, then making you go on a scavenger hunt to get it back,” Hernandez wrote in a statement to The Post.
“After 19 years, Tom DiNapoli still hasn’t gotten your money back to you,” he added. “I will, using modern technology and proactive outreach to return your hard-earned money where it belongs, and I’ll set a goal of doing it within my first year in office.”
The comptroller, the state’s elected financial watchdog, currently uses a searchable unclaimed database to connect New Yorkers with their dough — which usually are a small cut from rebates and class-action settlements.
But before they can get their checks, people have to find the database, search it and then apply for the funds.
Hernandez, an ex-Wall Street exec, said if elected he’d use his office to proactively try to hunt down the rightful owners of the cash instead of waiting for the owners to come to him.
Hernandez’s goal is to clear the entire existing backlog of $21 billion in his first year in office.
Hernandez said in the memo that he’ll employ more technology in order to try and interface with other government systems to try to directly return people’s cash — without them being forced to file a claim.
DiNapoli has defended the current system, arguing that privacy laws prevent his office from accessing New Yorkers’ information, including their tax returns.
But Hernandez specifically said he’d push for changes to the law.
“Where additional administrative or statutory authority is necessary to accelerate legitimate returns, the Comptroller would pursue appropriate reforms while maintaining safeguards against fraud, duplicate claims, and improper payments,” his memo reads.
DiNapoli, 72, and Hernandez, 53, were set to debate on Spectrum News Thursday night at 7 p.m.
DiNapoli, formerly a state Assembly member, has held the office since 2007 and fended off his first-ever primary challenge earlier this year, handily defeating insurgent Dems Raj Goyle and Drew Warshaw.
The state comptroller is paid $220,000 a year and serves a four-year term.
Election Day is Nov. 3.
