The Treasurer of Illinois is an elected official of the U.S. state of Illinois. The office was created by the Constitution of Illinois.
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Current Occupant
The current Treasurer of Illinois is Democrat Mike Frerichs. He was first elected to head the State Treasury in 2014 in a close race with Republican Party candidate Tom Cross.
During Treasurer Mike Frerichs’ tenure thus far, the State’s Bright Directions 529 college savings plan received Morningstar’s Silver Medal two years in a row – the highest rating given to advisor-sold plans, secured over $2.4 million in uncashed Sprint and RadioShack rebates for Illinois residents, fought for full funding of Illinois’ college Monetary Award Program (MAP) due to the State’s budget impasse, and spearheaded legislation requiring life insurance companies to pay death benefits. Programs currently under development include Secure Choice, a savings tool at work helping Illinois workers save their own money for retirement, and ABLE, a tax-advantaged savings vehicle for disability-related expenses.
Duties of the Treasurer
The Treasurer is required by the State Constitution (Section 18 of Article V) to hold responsibility for the safekeeping and investment of the monies and securities deposited in the public funds of Illinois. The Treasurer is not the state's chief financial officer, a post reserved for a separate elected official, the Illinois Comptroller.
The Illinois Constitution provides that the treasurer must, at the time of his or her election, be a United States citizen, at least 25 years old, and a resident of the state for at least 3 years preceding the election.
The Treasurer's office operates a web page describing the office's powers and duties.
Controversy
Some 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.
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. The legislation was opposed by Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.