| The State Treasurer is the state’s chief financial officer. The State Treasurer manages Missouri’s $20 billion in annual state revenues, directs its banking services and oversees its $6.5 billion investment portfolio. The State Treasurer safeguards Unclaimed Property that has been turned over by banks, businesses, insurance companies and government agencies, and aggressively tries to locate the owners. The State Treasurer also serves on the management boards of a number of public entities. The State Treasurer is one of six statewide elected officials, and serves a term of four years. A person may only serve as State Treasurer for two terms. |
The State Treasurer is responsible for overseeing MOST, Missouri’s 529 Education Plan. MOST accounts are designed to help families save for the costs of education, whether it’s K-12, college, trade, or technical school.
There are 4 candidates for this office:
- Scott Fitzpatrick – 33 yr old incumbent, appointed in 2019, former state rep
- Vicki Lorenz Englund – 46 yr old, former state rep and school board member
- Nicholas (Nick) Kasoff – 54 yr old, never held public office
- Joseph Civettini – Control systems Engineer, never held public office
Scott Fitzpatrick‘s top three priorities are balancing the budget, ensuring every child has access to a quality education regardless of their economic or demographic circumstances by using need-based scholarships for students in underperforming schools, managing our pension obligations responsibly. He created an innovative and automated system to return unclaimed property to children owed child support if an owing parent has unclaimed property held by the Treasurer’s Office.
Vicki Lorenz Englund‘s top three priorities are the state’s economic recovery, bringing diversity and representation to the treasurer’s office and implementing programs that will make it easier for everyday Missourians to start a small business, save for retirement and invest in their children’s education. Vicki’s web site does show she supports Medicaid expansion which is very important to children but I am not sure where the Treasurer’s office fits into it. She also talks about the importance of the 529 Plan and getting more families aware of it.
Nicholas (Nick) Kasoff‘s top three priorities technology for better service, being independent from party politics and no gimmicks like the annual MOST 529 sweepstakes. Nick’s website is not up anymore, and his facebook page does not have any information easily found about his stance on issues.
Joseph Civettini campaign strategy and priorities seems to be that he is not a Democrat or republican. He has not filled out any of the questionnaires or posted any other information. I can only find a facebook page for Joseph with a post against the ruling two party system.
Confession time: When I started this research I had a hard time because of the “money” language. Earlier in my life I was an accounting major and bought into the economic strategies of the 1980’s. It has only been in my most recent years that I realized that people were so much more important than money (especially in the form of profits). So money is only useful if it is being used for good is my current opinion. I was also very prepared to be biased against every incumbent, especially any appointed ones.
MY CANDIDATE CHOICE AND WHY
So as I got past my biases and was able to look at what I could find about the candidates and their stance on children, I was pleased to see three of the candidates list children’s education in their top 3 priorities. Nick Kasoff’s mention is that the MOST 529 lottery is a gimmick, I went out and researched it to see why he would call it that and I am still not sure. I also don’t see what the plan would be for the money that is currently deposited in the winners 529 accounts. I had the thought that it would be better to just spread the money out over all 529 plans, something to look at in the future. Vicki Lorenz Englund mentions making it easier for families to invest in education but she doesn’t seem to really have a stake in making education priority.
So that leaves us with Scott Fitzpatrick, the appointed incumbent. His second priority statement “ensuring every child has access to a quality education regardless of their economic or demographic circumstances”, is one that really speaks to me. I am not sure if “using need-based scholarships for students in underperforming schools” is the right way to go about accomplishing quality education for all but I am willing to go with faith that anyone in the financial part of stuff is making kids a priority over the economy is going to do their best. It would have been better if he put them over balancing the budget, of course. 🙂
Ranked choice voting for me would be:
- Scott Fitzpatrick
- Vicki Lorenz Englund
- Joseph Civettini
- Nicholas (Nick) Kasoff (last only because his facebook posts seem hostile)
BE FOR KIDS 