Illinois State Treasurer’s Office News Releases

Springfield – Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today a Request for Proposal (RFP ) for the Illinois Bright Start Direct College Savings Plan. The RFP will help identify a program manager that will assist in the Treasurer’s goal of helping families in Illinois save for college. The current contract expires July 2017. Among Treasurer Frerichs’ top priorities for the program are offering a quality, low-cost plan as well as a commitment to expand the college savings programs to underrepresented people to include minorities, low-income, and families outside of the Chicago…

SPRINGFIELD — Families have more protection from life insurance companies that use loopholes to avoid paying death benefits now that the Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act was signed into law, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs said today. Frerichs championed the legislation after learning some life insurance companies choose not to pay death benefits even when they know or should have known that a customer died. Instead, the companies rely upon this non-payment to fatten their profit margins. Since 2011, the treasurer’s office identified more than $550 million in life insurance proceeds…

SPRINGFIELD — More than 100 bidders, some from as far away as Arizona and New Mexico, spent more than $171,000 in this past weekend’s live auction, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said today. It was the first time in a decade that the live auction returned to the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. “The state fair’s celebration of Illinois, family fun and agribusiness offered the perfect setting for the auction,” Frerichs said. The state treasurer’s office holds more than $2 billion of unclaimed property including lost bank accounts, insurance policy…

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today that contract negotiations will soon begin for ABLE program services. The Illinois Treasurer’s Office has been working with nine other states on forming a partnership that seeks to provide the best ABLE program at the lowest possible cost t o beneficiaries. Illinois, on behalf of the ABLE Consortium, published the ABLE RFP on June 8 th , 2016. The RFP outlined requests for investment, administrative, customer service, and outreach material services that would benefit the Consortium. Six vendors responded to the RFP…