MANSFIELD — Ohioans will be choosing a new state treasurer at the Nov. 6 election.
Republican Robert Sprague and Democrat Rob Richardson are running for state treasurer this fall to replace Treasurer Josh Mandel.
Richland Source spoke with both Sprague and Richardson about their motivations for wanting to become treasurer, and their plans for Ohio’s future:
RS: Why do you want to be treasurer?
Sprague: Your primary responsibility as treasurer is making sure that you keep the taxpayer dollars safe. First of all, you’ve got a $13 billion portfolio that you need to invest for the benefit of the taxpayers. Secondly, you need to issue almost a billion dollars worth of debt instruments, so pretty complex stuff. You’re going constantly into the debt market refinancing that, you want to get the best deal that we can for the people of the state of Ohio. The final piece is we want to make sure that our pensions are protected, make sure that they’re safe and that somebody is looking out after those individuals that have put in 30 or 40 years of contributions into the pension system and make sure that their pensions are safely accounted for.
Richardson: I fundamentally believe we need to use the power of the purse to hold the powerful accountable. That will lead to expanding opportunities for Ohioans. We need to focus not just on public but how private entities use public dollars, that’s a taxpayer’s right to know. We’re going to use divestment where appropriate; for-profit prisons have no place in government, it’s not a good investment and we need to divest from that to also take a stance on what we believe in as a state. Looking at responsible investment, as we do economic infrastructure, we need to make sure those contractors are invested in local people and following all the rules.
RS: What motivates someone to run for elected office?
Sprague: I think it’s your desire to want to make an impact on issues. Rep. Mark Romachuck and I have worked on the heroin issue extensively. I’d love to show leadership and issue what’s called a social impact bond for new heroin treatment. It’s a very innovative financial concept where you pay on the back end for results. You go to the private sector and say, if you’re able to float a million-dollar bond and run a two-year pilot program with a heroin treatment process that works better than what we’re currently doing, we’re willing to buy back that bond at the end of the two years plus interest if you achieve a 50 percent recovery rate or greater. Not only does it help save people’s lives and help them continue their path in recovery, it also saves money for the state.
Richardson: I look at how the state of things are in Ohio, and I’m really concerned. We have an opioid crisis that is out of control, we have mass incarceration that needs to be addressed in terms of locking folks up unnecessarily, and we don’t do enough to increase access and opportunity. What motivates me overall is the fact that I’ve been extremely fortunate. I struggled in school early on in learning disability classes, but I’m lucky to have parents that were a great support system despite other teachers telling me I’d never go to college. That story normally turns out differently for most kids and families.
RS: What do you see as the biggest issue facing Ohio right now?
Sprague: I think one of the biggest things is the workforce gap. Jobs are pouring back to the state of Ohio, particularly in the manufacturing sector, and we’re now faced with this issue of not having enough skilled workers to meet the demands of the industry. You don’t need a college degree, you need a specific certification and specific skill set. One of the things I’d like to do is get more financial literacy into the high school and teach kids about what the job market is really paying for. We’d love to have those kids directly enter the workforce with the right certifications, but if their path is college-focused, maybe we can give them a few financial tools up front while they’re in high school so they can avoid taking on a crippling amount of student loan debt. Tuition has become unaffordable in the state of Ohio and they’re incentivizing these young people to take out enormous amounts of student loans that are then very difficult to be paid. So anything we can do upfront to help mitigate that, we need to be doing. And we have to start talking to the moms (of the students), too – right now the mantra has been everybody has to go to college and that’s the only path towards success. We have to change that conversation to let moms know not only is this a good job, it could be a good career path.
Richardson: I think overall the biggest issue facing Ohioans is a lack of opportunity based upon how things have been done in the statehouse for a really long time. The statehouse doesn’t have a resource problem, we have a priorities problem. We’ve seen those in power for a long time focus on putting profits in the hands of the few at the expense of the many. We invest in for-profit schools, which happens when you have no balance in government, and I think it’s a stupid idea. From the treasurer’s point of view, I want to make sure we use the power of the office and the power of transparency to let people know how our dollars are being used. We need to divest from for-profit prisons; it’s not about keeping people safe but making money off of incarcerating people. We’re going to do a fiscal impact analysis to learn from other states about what they’ve done to reduce their criminal population. If we don’t do this we’re going to have to build more prisons, spending taxpayer dollars when other, better things leading to jobs and opportunity could be done. Also, student loans and student debt is really high in our state. What I’d like to do besides offering financial education, is offer lower loans to students seeking to stay in the state of Ohio. Anything we can do to be more competitive and show we’re invested in the future.
