The Treasurer of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Seventy-four individuals have occupied the office of Treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Mike Frerichs, a Democrat. A former Champaign County auditor and state senator, Frerichs was first elected to lead the state treasury in 2014 following a close race with Republican candidate Tom Cross.
Treasurer of Illinois | |
---|---|
since January 12, 2015 | |
Style |
|
Member of | State Board of Investment |
Seat | Illinois State Capitol Springfield, Illinois |
Appointer | General election |
Term length | Four years, no term limits |
Inaugural holder | John Thomas |
Formation | October 2, 1818 |
Salary | $135,669 (2016)[1] |
Website | Official page |
Eligibility and term of office
editThe Treasurer is elected for a renewable four-year term during the quadrennial mid-term election. The Illinois Constitution provides that the Treasurer must, at the time of their election, be a United States citizen, at least 25 years old, and a resident of the state for at least three years preceding the election.[2]
Powers and duties
editThe Treasurer is charged by Article V, Section 18 of the Illinois Constitution with the safekeeping and investment of the monies and securities deposited into the state treasury.[3] As such, the Treasurer is not the chief financial officer of Illinois. That role is occupied by a separate elected official, the Comptroller. Rather, the Treasurer functions as the chief banking and investment officer for the state of Illinois. In this capacity, the Treasurer receives payments made to the state, deposits monies with approved depository institutions, accounts for and manages the state's daily fund balances, directs and administers the investment of the state's portfolio of operating and proprietary funds, arbitrages bonds issued by the Governor, services principal and interest payable on state debt, and disburses public monies in redemption of warrants drawn by the Comptroller.[4][5][6][7][8]
Other programs have been assigned to the Treasurer's office by law. For example, the Treasurer collects estate taxes due the state, approves the encumbrance of federal funds, offers various impact investment programs to farmers, small businesses and undercapitalized communities, and administers both escheats and unclaimed property accruing to the state.[9][10][11][12] The Treasurer also facilitates tax-advantaged ABLE, college savings, and retirement savings programs to Illinoisans and provides a voluntary local government investment pool to Illinois' 9,600 or so counties, cities, villages, towns, school districts, and other localities.[13][14][15][16] In addition to these routine functions, the Treasurer is concurrently an ex officio member of the State Board of Investment (ISBI), an independent state agency that oversees the investment of Illinois' public pension funds.[17] ISBI's assets under management totaled $31.5 billion at the close of the 2024 fiscal year.[18]
Aside from functional responsibilities, the Treasurer is constitutionally fifth (behind the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Comptroller, respectively) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Illinois.[19][20]
List of office holders
edit# | Image | Name | Political Party | Term |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John Thomas | Democratic-Republican | 1818–1819 | |
2 | R. K. McLaughlin | Democratic-Republican | 1819–1823 | |
3 | Abner Field | Democratic-Republican | 1823–1827 | |
4 | James Hall | Democratic | 1827–1831 | |
5 | John Dement | Democratic | 1831–1836 | |
6 | Charles Gregory | Democratic | 1836–1837 | |
7 | John D. Whiteside | Democratic | 1837–1841 | |
8 | Milton Carpenter | Democratic | 1841–1848 | |
9 | John Moore | Democratic | 1848–1857 | |
10 | James Miller | Republican | 1857–1859 | |
11 | William Butler | Republican | 1859–1863 | |
12 | Alexander Starne | Democratic | 1863–1865 | |
13 | James H. Beveridge | Republican | 1865–1867 | |
14 | George W. Smith | Republican | 1867–1869 | |
15 | Erastus N. Bates | Republican | 1869–1873 | |
16 | Edward Rutz | Republican | 1873–1875 | |
17 | Thomas S. Ridgway | Republican | 1875–1877 | |
18 | Edward Rutz | Republican | 1877–1879 | |
19 | John C. Smith | Republican | 1879–1881 | |
20 | Edward Rutz | Republican | 1881–1883 | |
21 | John C. Smith | Republican | 1883–1885 | |
22 | Jacob Gross | Republican | 1885–1887 | |
23 | John Riley Tanner | Republican | 1887–1889 | |
24 | Charles Becker | Republican | 1889–1891 | |
25 | Edward S. Wilson | Democratic | 1891–1893 | |
26 | Rufus N. Ramsay | Democratic | 1893–1894 | |
27 | Elijah P. Ramsay | Democratic | 1894–1895 | |
28 | Henry Wulff | Republican | 1895–1897 | |
29 | Henry L. Hertz | Republican | 1897–1899 | |
30 | Floyd K. Whittlemore | Republican | 1899–1901 | |
31 | Moses O. Williamson | Republican | 1901–1903 | |
32 | Fred A. Busse | Republican | 1903–1905 | |
33 | Len Small | Republican | 1905–1907 | |
34 | John F. Smulski | Republican | 1907–1909 | |
35 | Andrew Russel | Republican | 1909–1911 | |
36 | Edward E. Mitchell | Republican | 1911–1913 | |
37 | William Ryan Jr. | Democratic | 1913–1915 | |
38 | Andrew Russel | Republican | 1915–1917 | |
39 | Len Small | Republican | 1917–1919 | |
40 | Fred E. Sterling | Republican | 1919–1921 | |
41 | Edward E. Miller | Republican | 1921–1923 | |
42 | Oscar Nelson | Republican | 1923–1925 | |
43 | Omer N. Custer | Republican | 1925–1927 | |
44 | Garrett D. Kinney | Republican | 1927–1929 | |
45 | Omer N. Custer | Republican | 1929–1931 | |
46 | Edward J. Barrett | Democratic | 1931–1933 | |
47 | John C. Martin | Democratic | 1933–1935 | |
48 | John Henry Stelle | Democratic | 1935–1937 | |
49 | John C. Martin | Democratic | 1937–1939 | |
50 | Louie E. Lewis | Democratic | 1939–1941 | |
51 | Warren Wright | Republican | 1941–1943 | |
52 | William G. Stratton | Republican | 1943–1945 | |
53 | Conrad F. Becker | Republican | 1945–1947 | |
54 | Richard Yates Rowe | Republican | 1947–1949 | |
55 | Ora Smith | Democratic | 1949–1951 | |
56 | William G. Stratton | Republican | 1951–1953 | |
57 | Elmer J. Hoffman | Republican | 1953–1955 | |
58 | Warren Wright | Republican | 1955–1957 | |
59 | Elmer J. Hoffman | Republican | 1957–1959 | |
60 | Joseph D. Lohman | Democratic | 1959–1961 | |
61 | Francis S. Lorenz | Democratic | 1961–1963 | |
62 | William J. Scott | Republican | 1963–1967 | |
63 | Adlai Stevenson III | Democratic | 1967–1970 | |
64 | Charles W. Woodford | Democratic | 1970–1971 | |
65 | Alan J. Dixon | Democratic | 1971–1977 | |
66 | Donald R. Smith | Republican | 1977–1979 | |
67 | Jerome Cosentino | Democratic | 1979–1983 | |
68 | James Donnewald | Democratic | 1983–1987 | |
69 | Jerome Cosentino | Democratic | 1987–1991 | |
70 | Pat Quinn | Democratic | 1991–1995 | |
71 | Judy Baar Topinka | Republican | 1995–2007 | |
72 | Alexi Giannoulias | Democratic | 2007–2011 | |
73 | Dan Rutherford | Republican | 2011–2015 | |
74 | Mike Frerichs | Democratic | 2015–present |
Proposals to merge with Comptroller
editSome observers have perceived an overlap between the offices of Treasurer of Illinois and Comptroller of Illinois, and have therefore proposed constitutional amendments to merge the two offices and earn administrative savings. For example, HJRCA 14, considered by the Illinois General Assembly in 2007-2008, would have merged the two offices into the office of a single State Fiscal Officer.[24]
In 2011, the incumbent Treasurer along with the Comptroller (also former Treasurer) Judy Baar Topinka introduced legislation to allow voters to decide whether the offices should be merged.[25] The legislation was opposed by Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.[26]
References
edit- ^ "SELECTED STATE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICIALS: ANNUAL SALARIES" (PDF). The Council of State Governments. April 11, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-13. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ^ "Article V, Sections 2 and 3, Illinois Constitution". Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Article V, Section 18, Illinois Constitution". Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "State Treasurer Act". Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
- ^ "Deposit of State Moneys Act". Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Securities Safekeeping Act". Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Destruction of Indebtedness Certificates Act". Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "General Obligation Bond Act". Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
- ^ "Estate Tax". Office of the Illinois Treasurer. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Treasruer as Custodian of Funds Act". Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Invest in Illinois: Overview". Office of the Illinois Treasurer. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Icash, the Unclaimed Property Program for the State of Illinois". Office of the Illinois Treasurer. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "ABLE". Office of the Illinois Treasurer. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "College Savings". Office of the Illinois Treasurer. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Secure Choice". Office of the Illinois Treasurer. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "The Illinois Funds". Office of the Illinois Treasurer. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Board". Illinois State Board of Investment. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "About Us". Illinois State Board of Investment. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Constitution of the State of Illinois". Illinois General Assembly. Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ "Illinois Compiled Statutes 15 ILCS 5 — Governor Succession Act". Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ Illinois Blue Book. Springfield: Secretary of State. 1908. p. 158. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ Woods, Harry (1914). Illinois Blue Book. Danville: Secretary of State. p. 141. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ O'Connor, John (11 December 2014). "Governors have filled 16 vacancies since 1848". The State Journal-Register. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ "House Joint Resolution - Constitutional Amendment 14", accessed April 12, 2008.[1]
- ^ McQUEARY, KRISTEN (December 31, 2011). "Move to Allow Vote to Merge Treasurer and Comptroller Jobs Stalls in House". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
- ^ WETTERICH, CHRIS (8 June 2011). "Madigan blocking merger of treasurer, comptroller's offices". THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER. Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
External links
edit- Media related to State treasurers of Illinois at Wikimedia Commons
- Illinois State Treasurer's Office