Washington State Treasurer

The Washington State Treasurer is an elected official in the US state of Washington whose office is established by the Washington State Constitution. Mike Pellicciotti is the current Washington State Treasurer, a Democrat who began his term in January 2021.[3] He is charged with a variety of responsibilities related to the fiscal management of state government.[4]

State Treasurer of Washington
Seal of the Treasurer of the State of Washington
Incumbent
Mike Pellicciotti
since January 13, 2021
Style
SeatWashington State Capitol
Olympia, Washington
AppointerGeneral election
Term lengthFour years, no term limits
Constituting instrumentWashington Constitution of 1889: Article III, Sections 1, 3, 10, 19, 24, and 25; Article VIII, Section 1; and Article V, Section 2[1]
Inaugural holderAddison Alexander Lindsley
FormationNovember 11, 1889 (November 11, 1889)
Salary$153,615[2]
WebsiteOfficial page

Powers and duties

In Washington, the State Treasurer is the state's chief banker, financier, and investor. The State Treasurer is responsible for managing the state's cash assets and local government investments which, as of 2020, totaled $350 billion.[5] The State Treasurer is also responsible for issuing and servicing the state's $21.4 billion outstanding debt and other financial obligations.[6] As one of 15 members on the Washington State Investment Board, the State Treasurer also directs and supervises the investment of public pension and retirement funds.[7] The State Treasurer is third (behind the Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State, respectively) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Washington.[8]

The Washington State Treasurer's office is located in the Washington State Capitol.

Most of the Treasurer's specific responsibilities are set-forth in the Revised Code of Washington. Though the office was established by the Washington constitution, that document only provides that "the treasurer shall perform such duties as shall be prescribed by law," a provision similar to the earlier enacted constitution of the neighboring state of Oregon. The constitution originally directed that the Treasurer would be paid a salary of $2,000, though constitutional limits on officeholder salaries have since been repealed by amendment and are now set by statute.[9]

Election and office

The Treasurer is elected every four years on a partisan ballot; any registered voter in the state of Washington is eligible to stand for election. The Washington State Constitution requires that, upon assuming office, the Treasurer establish residence in the state's capital city of Olympia. State law further requires he post a surety bond of $500,000, approved by both the Washington Secretary of State and the Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court.[10]

The Treasurer's office is located in the Washington State Capitol.[11]

List of Washington Treasurers

The State of Washington has had a total of 22 Treasurers, 2 of whom (Otto A. Case and Tom Martin) served non-consecutive terms.[12][13] Otto A. Case also served as Commissioner of Public Lands from 1945 to 1949 and 1953–1957.[13]

# Name Term Party
1 Addison Alexander Lindsley 1889–1893 Republican
2 Orzo A. Bowen 1893–1897 Republican
3 Cyrus Wilber Young 1897–1901 Populist
4 Charles Warren Maynard 1901–1905 Republican
5 George Grant Mills 1905–1909 Republican
6 John G. Lewis 1909–1913 Republican
7 Edward Meath 1913–1917 Republican
8 Walter W. Sherman 1917–1921 Republican
9 Clifford L. Babcock 1921–1925 Republican
10 William George Potts 1925–1929 Republican
11 Charles W. Hinton 1929–1933 Republican
12 Otto A. Case 1933–1937; 1941–1945 Democratic
13 Phil Henry Gallagher 1937–1941 Democratic
14 Russell Harrison Fluent 1945–1949 Democratic
15 Tom Martin 1949–1953; 1957–1965 Democratic
16 Charles R. Maybury 1953–1957 Republican
17 Robert S. O'Brien 1965–1989 Democratic
18 Dan Grimm 1989–1997 Democratic
19 Michael J. Murphy 1997–2009 Democratic
20 James McIntire 2009–2016 Democratic
21 Duane Davidson 2017–2021 Republican
22 Mike Pellicciotti 2021– Democratic

See also

References
  1. "Constitution of Washington". Office of the Code Reviser. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  2. "Salaray Information". Washington Citizens' Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  3. "Subscribe | The Seattle Times". www.seattletimes.com. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  4. "What We Do". tre.wa.gov. Office of the Washington State Treasurer. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  5. "cash management - Washington Office of the State Treasurer". Washington State Treasurer. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  6. "state debt information - office of the state treasurer". Washington State Treasurer. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  7. Gilmore, Susan (6 August 2008). "3 running to fill state treasurer's job". Seattle Times. Seattle. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  8. "Washington State Constitution". Washington State Legislature. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  9. Utter, Robert (2011). The Washington State Constitution (Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States). Oxford University Press. p. 99. ISBN 0199779279.
  10. "RCW 43.08.020 ... Residence — Bond — Oath". app.leg.wa.gov. Washington State Legislature. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  11. Ferguson, Margaret (2006). The Executive Branch of State Government: People, Process, and Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 99. ISBN 1851097716.
  12. "Washington State Treasurers: A Historical Gallery".
  13. Washington State Yearbook: The Evergreen State Government Directory. Washington Roll Call. 2017. p. 260.
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