Style The Honorable | Term length four years, no limit | |
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Formation Constitution of Washington Website State Treasurer's Office | ||
The Washington State Treasurer is an elected official in the US state of Washington whose office is established by the Washington State Constitution. He is charged with a variety of responsibilities related to the fiscal management of state government.
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Duties and compensation
The Washington State Treasurer is responsible for managing the state's cash assets and local government investments which, as of 2008, totaled $11 billion. He is also responsible for servicing the state's $13 billion debt, through the issuance of state bonds. As one of 15 members of the Washington State Investment Board, the Treasurer helps oversee the investment of state pension and retirement funds. He is also in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Washington, following the Lieutenant-Governor and Secretary of State.
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the Treasurer would be paid a salary of $2,000, though constitutional limits on officeholder salaries have since been repealed by amendment and are now set by statute. The Treasurer currently receives an annual salary of $125,000.
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.
The Treasurer's office is located in the Washington State Capitol.