MARCH 2024

IT’S YOUR MONEY
Treasury: Louisiana’s Biggest ‘Bank’
It was an honor to be sworn in
as Louisiana’s Treasurer by our
new Speaker of the House,
Congressman Mike Johnson.
Mike is very special to me.
Not only are we close friends,
but he succeeded me as Congressman
from the 4th District
eight years ago.
Together, we have had the
privilege of representing the
great people of Northwest
and Central Louisiana, and
parts of Acadiana, in our nation’s
Capital for the past 16
years.
I want to thank you for choosing
me as your state Treasurer!
It is a wonderful opportunity
and a tremendous responsibility.
Many people probably
think the Treasurer’s job is
mainly ceremonial and that he
simply affixes his signature to
checks and other documents.
The truth is, there is much
more to it than that.
Complying with State Law
The Treasurer’s signature is indeed
attached to almost every
check issued by the State of
Louisiana, and more than $60
billion in checks are written by
the Treasurer every year. That’s
$60 billion with a B! More importantly,
the Treasurer is responsible
for making sure that
those state funds are spent in
accordance with the Louisiana
Constitution and statutory
law. On some days, the Treasurer
writes more than $400
million in checks! All expenditures
have to be authorized by
appropriation bills passed by
the Louisiana Legislature.
The Treasurer also collects $60
billion in revenue each year. In
fact, every day at the close of
business, the bank account of
every state agency is zeroed
out and the funds are transferred
at that moment to the
state’s General Fund maintained
by the Treasurer.
Technically speaking, the state
Treasury is not a bank, but if
it were, it would be by far the
largest bank in Louisiana.
Staff Doing a Good Job
Since being elected your Treasurer
in November,
I have been preparing
to make
the transition. I
want to thank
Treasurer John
Schroder and
the staff at the
Department of
Treasury for the
good job they
have done and for
their cooperation and
help during this period.
As a young doctor just out of
medical school, I learned the
importance of surrounding
myself with a strong team of
professionals. The good news
is we have a strong team of
professionals in place in the
Treasurer’s office.
We have inherited an agency
with a history of success and
without major scandals. I do
not plan major upheavals in
the department, but rather to
find ways to build on that
history of success.
In Louisiana, we
have had conservative
Republican
Treasurers
for the
past 20 years
(John Kennedy
and John
Schroder), and
even before that, our
Treasurers made many important
improvements to the
office. Two of our last three
United States senators from
Louisiana were State Treasurer
before their election to the
Senate — John Kennedy and
Mary Landrieu.
John Fleming, MD,
State Treasurer
Many of the current staff were
hired by John Kennedy, and
I am very impressed with a
program begun under Mary
Landrieu, which is called
Bank-at-School. Under this
program, community banks
in our state have established
branches in many schools.
This allows students to open
a bank account and learn the
value of savings and handling
money carefully.
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LMR | MARCH 2024