Treasurer of Pennsylvania

The treasurer of Pennsylvania is the head of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, an independent department of the commonwealth's government. The treasurer is elected every four years. Treasurers are limited to two consecutive terms.

Pennsylvania Treasury Department

As the name "Treasury" suggests, the department's paramount responsibility is safeguarding and managing the state's financial assets, but Pennsylvania's constitution and statutes place additional specific responsibilities on the office.

Taxes and other sources of revenue collected by the state are deposited with the Treasury. The department uses that money to make payments on behalf of state government, including payroll for state employees and charges incurred by government agencies. Before issuing payments, Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Review must carefully examine invoices to make certain the charges are lawful and correct.

While managing cash flow to ensure that enough money is on hand to meet financial obligations, Treasury also places funds in widely diversified short-term and long-term investments to earn income for state taxpayers. It also holds and/or invests funds for other government agencies, such as the state pension boards. As of 2014, Treasury is custodian of approximately $100 billion in public assets.

PA 529 College Savings Program

The PA 529 College Savings Program gives families a tax-advantaged way to make college possible for their children.

Unclaimed property

Treasury's Unclaimed Property Bureau works to reunite more than $2 billion in lost, forgotten and abandoned property with its rightful owners. Since 2009, Treasury has collected $1.134 billion in abandoned property and returned $518 million back to the rightful owners, netting $616 million for the state General Fund budget.

INVEST

The INVEST program helps local governments and nonprofits invest their money with flexibility, security, and confidence. INVEST uses Treasury's professional investment expertise, minus the high costs of other investment programs. With less money spent on management fees, more money is spent on Pennsylvania's communities.

Responsibilities

1. Conducting investigations of loss, theft, or fraud involving commonwealth checks.
2. Reviewing and approving real estate leases and sole source contracts entered into by commonwealth agencies before such leases and contracts can become effective.
3. Housing the Pennsylvania Contracts e-Library. In response to the new Right-to-Know Law signed by Governor Ed Rendell on February 14, 2008, Treasury is required to make available certain government contract information for public inspection by posting it on a publicly accessible Web site.

State boards

The department's reach also extends to the many state boards on which the treasurer serves. For example, as the chairperson of the Board of Finance and Revenue, the treasurer directs the selection of the banks where state funds are deposited and sets the interest rates paid on them. The treasurer also serves on boards that oversee state pension funds and has a voice in how these funds are managed and invested. Other board-related activities allow the treasurer to help provide Pennsylvania schools with tax-exempt financing for modernization, make grants to distressed communities, and finance the purchase of rental housing for residents in need.

Other services

The Treasury provides several other services to state residents, such as financial education programs for individuals and businesses, and a debit card for recipients of unemployment compensation and workers compensation benefits. It makes low-interest loans available for energy efficiency improvements in residential homes through Keystone HELP, and invests in energy upgrades in college and university buildings through its Campus Energy Efficiency Fund.

List of Pennsylvania treasurers

Portrait	Name	Term	Party
File:SamuelCarpenter1649-1714.jpg	Samuel Carpenter	1704–1710, 1711–1713
File:Charles Willson Peale - David Rittenhouse - Google Art Project (3x4 cropped).jpg	David Rittenhouse	1777–1789
File:Hans Christian Febiger.jpg	Christian Febiger	1789–1797
	Peter Baynton	1797–1801
	Jacob Carpenter	1801–1802
	Isaac Weaver Jr.	1802–1807	Democratic-Republican
File:WFindley.jpg	William Findlay	1807–1817	Democratic-Republican
	R. M. Crain	1817–1820
	John B. Trevor	1820–1821
	William Clark	1821–1827
	Alexander Mahon	1827–1835
	Joseph Lawrence	1835–1836
File:DSturgeon (3x4 cropped).jpg	Daniel Sturgeon	1836–1840	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:Almon H. Read.png	Almon Heath Read	1840–1841	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
	John Gilmore	1841–1842
File:JobMann.jpg	Job Mann	1842–1845
File:JamesRossSnowden.JPG	James Ross Snowden	1845–1847	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
	John Banks	1847–1848	style="background-color:Template:Party color"| Whig
File:Arnold Plumer (Pennsylvania Congressman).jpg	Arnold Plumer	1848–1849	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
	Gideon J. Ball	1849–1850
	John M. Bickel	1850–1854	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:JosephBaileyPA.jpg	Joseph Bailey	1854–1855	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
	Eli Slifer	1855–1856	style="background-color:Template:Party color"| Whig
	Henry S. Magraw	1856–1859
	Eli Slifer	1859–1861	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Henry Dunning Moore	1861–1863	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	William V. McGrath	1863–1864
	Henry Dunning Moore	1864–1865	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	William H. Kemble	1865–1868	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:Irwin, William Wilken (b 1823) Cropped.jpg	William Wilken Irwin	1868–1869
	Robert W. Mackey	1869–1870	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:Irwin, William Wilken (b 1823) Cropped.jpg	William Wilken Irwin	1870–1871
	Robert W. Mackey	1871–1876	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Henry Rawle	1876–1878	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:Amos C. Noyes (1818–1880) circa 1883.jpg	Amos C. Noyes	1878–1880	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
	Samuel Butler	1880–1882	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Silas M. Bailey	1882–1884	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	William Livsey	1884–1886	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania and its centennial celebration, (1904) (14804406853).jpg	Matthew Quay	1886–1887	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	William Livsey	1887–1888	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	William B. Hart	1888–1889	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	William Livsey	1889–1890	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Henry K. Boyer	1890–1892	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	John W. Morrison	1892–1894	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Samuel M. Jackson	1894–1896	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Benjamin J. Haywood	1896–1898	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	James S. Beacom	1898–1900	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	James E. Barnett	1900–1902	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Frank G. Harris	1902–1904	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:William L. Mathues circa 1898.jpg	William L. Mathues	1904–1906	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:William H. Berry - History of Iowa.jpg	William H. Berry	1907–1908	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:John Oscar Sheatz (1856–1922), American politician and Pennsylvania State Treasurer.jpg	John O. Sheatz	1908–1911	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:Charles Frederick Wright.jpg	Charles Frederick Wright	1911–1913	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Robert K. Young	1913–1917	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Harmon M. Kephart	1917–1921	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:Charles A. Snyder (1867–1931).png	Charles A. Snyder	1921–1925	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Samuel S. Lewis	1925–1929	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:MARTIN, EDWARD. SENATOR LCCN2016862812 (cropped).jpg	Edward Martin	1929–1933	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
	Charles A. Waters	1933–1937	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:F. Clair Ross Crop.jpg	F. Clair Ross	1937–1941	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
	G. Harold Wagner	1941–1945	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
	Ramsey S. Black	1945–1949	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:Charles R. Barber (1901–1987), Pennsylvania Treasurer (1949–1953) and Pennsylvania Auditor General (1953–1957).jpg	Charles R. Barber	1949–1953	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:Weldon Brinton Heyburn (1903–1979), Pennsylvania Auditor General (1949–1953) and Pennsylvania Treasurer (1952–1957).jpg	Weldon Brinton Heyburn	1953–1957	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:Robert F. Kent (1911–1982), Pennsylvania State Representative and Pennsylvania State Treasurer.jpg	Robert F. Kent	1957–1961	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:Grace M. Sloan (1902–2001), Pennsylvania Treasurer and Auditor General.jpg	Grace M. Sloan	1961–1965	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:Thomas Z. Minehart (1907–1989), Pennsylvania Treasurer and Auditor General.jpg	Thomas Z. Minehart	1965–1969	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:Grace M. Sloan (1902–2001), Pennsylvania Treasurer and Auditor General.jpg	Grace M. Sloan	1969–1977	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
	Robert E. Casey	1977–1981	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:R. Budd Dwyer (3x4 close cropped).jpg	R. Budd Dwyer	1981–1987	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Republican
	G. Davis Greene Jr.	1987–1989	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:Catherine Baker Knoll (2006).jpg	Catherine Baker Knoll	1989–1997	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
	Barbara Hafer	1997–2005	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican
File:Senator Bob Casey official photo 2007 (cropped).jpg	Bob Casey Jr.	2005–2007	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:Robin L. Wiessmann Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency CEO in 2020 (cropped).jpg	Robin Wiessmann	2007–2009	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:Rob McCord (cropped).png	Rob McCord	2009–2015	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
	Tim Reese	2015–2017	Template:Party shading/Independent| Independent
File:Joe Torsella.jpg	Joe Torsella	2017–2021	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| Democratic
File:Stacy Garrity, 2024.jpg	Stacy Garrity	2021–	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| Republican

External links

• The Pennsylvania Treasury Department