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In rare company

With his re-election in 2008 and four more years of service, Treasurer Perdue will be tied for the second-longest tenured stint as Treasurer in state history. Leading the pack is R.E. Talbott (D-Barbour), who served from 1932 to 1950. W.S. Johnson (R-Fayette) held office from 1916 to 1932.

"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely.The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Perdue files to run again

Treasurer Perdue seals the deal at filing time
Treasurer Perdue seals the deal at filing time
with Chuck Flannery of the Secretary of State's office.

Treasurer shooting for fourth term 

     State Treasurer John Perdue filed Jan. 12 to run for his fourth term in office.

      “I’m pleased and excited for the chance to serve our state’s residents for four more years,” Perdue said. “I look forward to building upon our past successes in state investments, college savings, unclaimed property, deferred compensation and other programs.”

      Perdue filed his papers and paid his fee at the Secretary of State’s office, on the first day of the filing period.

     A Boone County native, Perdue previously served as a Deputy Agriculture Commissioner and as an executive assistant to former Gov. Gaston Caperton. As Treasurer, Perdue has overseen dramatic changes in the office, pioneering programs in college savings, deferred compensation, short-term investments and taking full advantage of federal unclaimed property law changes. 

     He was first elected Treasurer in November of 1996, defeating Stan Klos of Wheeling.

     "The fire has not gone out," Perdue said. "No matter what is in store for me and my political future, the last four years of my tenure as State Treasurer will be no less dedicated to excellence."  

Perdue named Treasurer of Year

     The National Association of State Treasurers has honored West Virginia Treasurer John Perdue with its Jesse M. Unruh Award, the organization’s Treasurer of the Year Award.
     State treasurers bestowed the award on Perdue last week during their annual conference in Oregon.
“Treasurer Perdue has a long and distinguished public service career and his contributions to NAST are remarkable as well,” said Mississippi State Treasurer Tate Reeves, current NAST president.
     NAST has presented the award annually since 1989 to a treasurer deemed an outstanding leader. Perdue is a past president of NAST and is president of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.
     “I was quite taken aback, pleasantly,” Perdue said. “I certainly wasn’t expecting this but it touches me that my colleagues consider my work worthy of such an award. I very much appreciate and cherish it.”
     Reeves cited Perdue’s involvement in two key federal initiatives, tax permanency for 529 college savings plans and Operation Rightful Owner. The latter project, also known as ORO, is an attempt by state treasury officials to return $15 billion in unclaimed U.S. Savings Bonds to people across the country.
     West Virginia’s SMART529 program carries a five-star rating from savingsforcollege.com. With as little as $100, a state resident can open an account and claim every dollar as a tax write-off on a West Virginia income tax return.
     Upon withdrawal, a SMART529 account owner is exempt from federal taxes. Perdue helped insure that exemption was permanent by lobbying congressional leaders. It had been set to expire in 2010.
     The current NAST president also mentioned Perdue’s tireless work in West Virginia, on behalf of unclaimed property, college savings programs, financial literacy and supplemental retirement for public employees.
     “The State Treasurer,” Reeves said, “now has responsibility for all banking and cash management functions, as well as responsibility for investment of the state’s operating funds. It seems that other major responsibilities are assigned to his office annually.”
     Reeves lauded Perdue for pushing financial education in the Mountain State. Those include development and legislative passage of the West Virginia Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund Act, which resulted in the state’s current SMART529 program; a “Bank at School” program for elementary students; and his work in passing mandatory financial education classes for seniors graduating in 2008.
     Adult financial classes also include lunch seminars on retirement and a Money Conference series that has drawn some 8,000 attendees. The Money Conference series, which began as a “Women & Money” series, will celebrate its 20th installment with next year’s first event.
     That series has spanned the state, with conferences from Wheeling to Princeton and Huntington to Shepherdstown. State residents have vouched for how successful the program has been and what it has meant to their lives.
     As for unclaimed property, West Virginia routinely places among the nation’s top 10 in rate of return. In fiscal 2006, it returned 117 percent of what it took in, meaning it returned the value of that year’s receipts and then some.
     Operation Rightful Owner is an ongoing treasurers’ attempt to pass federal legislation, laws that would give states the power to find owners of $15 billion worth of unclaimed U.S. Savings Bonds. That money is lying dormant in the federal treasury, with no plans to return it to owners. Perdue was its original champion and continues to be.
     During the 2006 legislative session, Perdue persuaded legislators to give his office the state’s 457 deferred compensation plan. Now known as West Virginia Retirement Plus, one-year marketing efforts by Treasury staff have resulted in an additional 2,000 enrollees.
     Another of Treasurer Perdue’s new projects is the Board of Treasury Investments, which is in charge of $2.8 billion in state operating funds and short-term investments. It earned this summer a AAAm rating from Standard & Poor’s, the first state government money market fund to earn such a distinction.

Copyright © 2007 and Paid for by the Committee Perdue 2004,
Pat Maroney Treasurer. All Rights Reserved.