Free Republic

South Carolina has collected about $1.8 billion in a bank account over the past decade and state and private accountants are still trying to figure out where the cash came from and where it was supposed to go. “It's like going into your bank and the bank president tells you we have a lot of money in our vault but we just don't know who it belongs to,” said Republican Sen. Larry Grooms, who is leading a Senate panel investigating the problem. It's the latest trouble with the state's books and the two agencies, typically led by elected officials, that...

Antoinette Hodge, the treasurer of Uniontown who was charged last year by then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro for allegedly stealing $106,000 in taxpayer funds while in office, is now facing more charges. Fayette County District Attorney Richard Bower said Hodge “substantially depleted” the funds of the Youghiogheny Western Baptist Association, where she was a chair of the trustee board, with the first incident happening in July 2018 and continuing through the pandemic. The YWBA is an organization that represents some Baptist churches in Fayette, Westmoreland, Greene, and Allegheny counties, as well as a church in Morgantown, W.Va. Bower announced 38...

PHOENIX — Citing a “toxic” political environment and other issues, Maricopa County’s outgoing treasurer said that Thursday will be his last day in office even though his successor won’t be sworn in until the second week of January.Outgoing Maricopa County Treasurer Royce Flora announced his resignation on Wednesday. In his resignation, Flora also announced his intention to assist with the recall of Supervisors Clint Hickman, Bill Gates, Jack Sellers, and Steve Gallardo.“It has also come to my attention that the incoming Treasurer cannot be legally sworn in until January 11, 2021 and therefore according to the Arizona Constitution, my term...

NORFOLK Anthony Burfoot sold his City Council votes to benefit developers for six years and then lied about it when questioned in federal court, a jury found Friday. The city’s treasurer, who previously served as vice mayor, was convicted on six of eight public corruption and perjury charges. He can remain free until he is sentenced April 17 in U.S. District Court, but he must submit to the supervision of a federal probation officer. Burfoot – who plans to appeal and continue working at the treasurer’s office while that’s pending – faces the possibility of 90 years in prison but...

You almost have to feel sorry for new Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf (D). The man’s just moved into Harrisburg, gotten his voice mail straightened out, starting to get a feel for the morning commute, and then WHAMM! – his (Democratic) Attorney General (Kathleen Kane) is on the verge of being indicted for perjury and his (Democratic) Treasurer (Rob McCord) is resigning, not to mention preparing to plead out on extortion charges:

MADISON, Wis. — Newly elected state Treasurer Matt Adamczyk ran on a campaign pledge of cutting 80 percent from a $545,000 annual budget. A few weeks into his first and supposed only term, he has, through lay-offs, already gotten rid of his two-member staff. Adamczyk also declined to fill an empty deputy treasurer position that was paying close to $107,000 a year in salary and benefits. “I’m a big believer that in government it’s not our job just to give people jobs,” Adamczyk told Wisconsin Reporter. The state has transferred most of the treasurer’s duties to other government agencies over...

And you thought the Treasurer’s debate would be boring. That was the observation made by Fox 31 political reporter Eli Stokols as he moderated a debate between Treasurer Walker Stapleton and failed Congresswoman Betsy Markey. At about the 7 minute mark in the below video is when things get really heated. Stapleton asks Markey a basic question about public finance: “Could you describe to me what a yield curve is, please?” She is unable to answer. ... Stapleton has a degree in business economics from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is not...

A Message from Pennsylvania State Treasurer Rob McCord Yesterday, the state’s General Fund balance dipped below zero -- the earliest point in a fiscal year this has happened since at least the year 2000. In response and after consulting with the Department of Auditor General, Treasury made a $1.5 billion line of credit available to the commonwealth to cope with what is clearly an alarming structural fiscal imbalance. Treasury’s line of credit will help the commonwealth avoid high transaction costs typically associated with tax anticipation notes, and it allows the state to draw down on the loan only as needed...

Madison — Already relieved of most of the responsibilities required of their offices in other states, the positions of secretary of state and state treasurer would be eliminated under a constitutional amendment proposed by two Assembly Republicans. "In this day and age, they are outdated positions," said Rep. Tyler August (R-Lake Geneva). "We can save the state some money by eliminating them." The positions are much weaker than in other states. Republican State Treasurer Kurt Schuller, for example, had one of his last major responsibilities — authority of the state's unclaimed property program — eliminated under the state budget. Eliminating...

President Barack Obama signed a bill Friday evening that would exempt some senior-level presidential appointees from Senate confirmation. Sponsored by Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and cosponsored by Republicans and Democrats, the bill, now law, weakens the power of the legislature and strengthens the executive branch, critics have warned. The bill skated through the Senate three months after being introduced in 2011 and was passed by the Republican-controlled House 216-116 in July. The law now allows Obama and future presidents to name appointees to senior positions in every branch of the administration, from the Department of the Treasury to the Department...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A finance executive at MF Global Holdings Ltd invoked her right against self-incrimination as lawmakers heard from officials who played critical roles in the final days of the futures brokerage, when a huge and still unexplained shortfall in customer money surfaced. Assistant Treasurer Edith O'Brien, believed to have been involved in authorizing a $175 million transfer that may have included customer funds, three days before MF Global's bankruptcy filing on October 31, declined to testify on Wednesday. "On advice of counsel I respectfully decline to answer based on my constitutional right," she told subcommittee chairman Randy Neugebauer...

Supervisor Nadia Lockyer, wife of California treasurer, acknowledges substance abuse, affair (Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer at a public event in San Leandro, Calif., April 22, 2011.) Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer, wife of California Treasurer Bill Lockyer, said Tuesday that she's in rehabilitation for a substance-abuse problem after an extramarital affair culminated in a beating by her ex-lover. The announcement marked a sharp turn in the career of a woman who at 40 had been seen as a rising star in California politics. The scandal is also an ugly footnote on her husband's nearly four-decade-long career, which made him...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Stunning accusations that a top California Democratic campaign treasurer looted the war chests of her big-name clients have left candidates across the state scrambling to raise more money as election season looms. Kinde Durkee, who controlled the funds of roughly 400 candidates and groups, ranging from Senator Dianne Feinstein to local Democratic youth clubs, was arrested in September and charged with fraud. While the extent of the losses isn't yet clear, the coffers of dozens of Democratic politicians have been frozen, prompting the crippled campaigns to ask the California Fair Political Practices Commission to permit further...

She has a driver who makes $94,000 a year and a cleaning lady making $57,000 a year. Is Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas wasting tax dollars? In a joint investigation with the Better Government Association, CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman has been following these employees and found that their job titles have nothing to do with the work they actually do. ...But the driver is hidden in the budget as a “Project Leader.” The official job summary description includes; consulting with county officials “in the design, development and implementation of varied and highly sophisticated computer software applications to enhance business...

I’m not sure which is most amusing about Bill Lockyer’s rant to the state legislature this week. Is it his assertion that Democrats have to call out other Democrats when they run off the rails? Perhaps his telling them that two-thirds of what they produce is “just junk”? Insisting that more taxes won’t solve their problems, and that they have to start looking for ways to save money instead? Actually, all of that and more is just simple truth. Watch this first and see if you catch my favorite moment in this clip: CLICK ABOVE LINK TO VIEW THE SHORT...

PHOENIX - Arizona is having to borrow money because the U.S. Department of Education is imposing new requirements for the state to get stimulus funds, Treasurer Dean Martin is charging. "What Arizona has received is endless bureaucratic red tape and constantly changing rules to delay access to funds,'' he said Wednesday. The result, said Martin, is Arizona doesn't have use of $433 million it should have had by now.

Austin Michael Wright died Wednesday night, two days after Dean Martin's wife Kerry died after complications from childbirth.

The wife of Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin passed away Monday night shortly after giving birth to the couple's firstborn son.

It's looks like state Treasurer Bill Lockyer is going to be the next governor of California – at least for a day. With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other top office holders heading to Washington, D.C., to witness the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, California's affairs of state will be left to the man who stands sixth in line to the Governor's Office under the state constitution. Lockyer will be riding high because – in order of succession – Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Attorney General Jerry...

State Sen. Ben Westlund, D-Bend, is coming close to shutting the door on any serious Democrat jumping in to challenge him for the state Treasurer's job. But he may soon have a Republican competitor in the wings. Salem lobbyist Craig Campbell, who has important political ties in both parties, told me he is seriously considering running for state treasurer. "It's really a fascinating job," said Campbell. "It has a tremendous amount of responsibility." But he said he first has to decide what kind of impact a statewide campaign would have on his family - he has two young children -...