Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts

The treasurer and receiver-general of Massachusetts is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Originally appointed under authority of the English Crown pursuant to the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company, the office of treasurer and receiver-general (commonly called the "state treasurer") became an elective one in 1780.^[a] Sixty-one individuals have occupied the office of state treasurer over the ensuing centuries. The incumbent is Deb Goldberg, a Democrat who took office January 21, 2015.

Treasurer and Receiver-General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Seal of Massachusetts
Incumbent Deb Goldberg since January 21, 2015
Government of Massachusetts
Style	Mister or Madam Treasurer (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Type	Constitutional officer State treasurer
Residence	None official
Seat	State House, Boston, Massachusetts
Nominator	Nominating petition, Political parties
Appointer	Popular vote
Term length	Four years, no term limit
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Massachusetts
Formation	Originally created: May 18, 1629[1] Current form: October 25, 1780
Unofficial names	State Treasurer
Website	www.mass.gov/treasury

Election

Term of office

The treasurer is elected by the people on Election Day in November to four-year terms, and takes office on the third Wednesday of the January following a general election. There is no limit to the number of terms a treasurer may hold.^[2] Institutionally speaking, the treasurer is thus independent of both the governor and General Court for the purpose of performing their official duties. These constitutional protections notwithstanding, the treasurer may still be impeached for misconduct or maladministration by the House of Representatives and, if found guilty, removed from office by the Senate.^[3]

Qualifications

Any person seeking election to the office of treasurer must meet the following requirements:

1. Be at least eighteen years of age;
2. Be a registered voter in Massachusetts;
3. Be a Massachusetts resident for at least five years when elected; and
4. Receive 5,000 signatures from registered voters on nomination papers.^[4]

Vacancies

In the event of a vacancy in the office of treasurer, the General Court is charged, if in session, with electing from among the eligible citizens of the Commonwealth a successor to serve the balance of the prior treasurer's term in office.^[b] If, however, the vacancy occurs while the General Court is not in session, then responsibility for appointing a successor falls to the governor. The appointment is not valid without the advice and consent of the Governor's Council.^[7]

Powers and duties

The state treasurer is in effect the chief financial officer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.^[8] As such, the state treasurer manages the Commonwealth's cash flows and invests the working capital of state agencies and local governments.^[9] The state treasurer is also responsible for issueing, registering, and servicing the Commonwealth's public debt along with administering escheats and unclaimed property that accrue to the Commonwealth.^[10][11] These are core functions shared with other state treasurers.^[12]

Other programs have been assigned to the state treasurer by law. For example, the state treasurer regulates the sale of alcoholic beverages within intrastate commerce, provides tax-advantaged ABLE and college savings programs to Bay Stater residents, and manages the state lottery.^[13][14][15] Likewise, the state treasurer administers deferred compensation plans to public and nonprofit employees along with bonuses to veterans, servicemembers, and military families domiciled in Massachusetts.^[16][17]

Aside from these functional responsibilities, the state treasurer is ex officio chair of the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the Massachusetts State Retirement Board, and the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board.^{[18][19][20][21]} These independent agencies are governed by multimember boards attached to the Office of the Treasurer and Receiver-General for administrative purposes.

Organization

The Office of the Treasurer and Receiver-General is organized into the following departments:

1. the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission;
2. the Department of Cash Management;
3. the Department of Debt Management;
4. the Department of Defined Compensation Plans;
5. the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust;
6. the Massachusetts School Building Authority;
7. the Massachusetts State Lottery;
8. the Office of Economic Empowerment;
9. the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board;
10. the State Retirement Board;
11. the Unclaimed Property Division; and
12. the Veterans' Bonus Division.^[22]

List of treasurers and receivers-general (1780–present)

Treasurer and Receiver-General		Party	Years
	Henry Gardner Sr.		1780– 1783
	Thomas Ivers		1783– 1787
	Alexander Hodgden		1787– 1792
	Thomas Davis		1792– 1797
	Peleg Coffin Jr.	Federalist	1797– 1801
	Jonathan Jackson	Federalist	1802– 1806
	Thomson J. Skinner	Democratic- Republican	1806– 1808
	Josiah Dwight		1808– 1810
	Thomas Harris		1810– 1811
	Jonathan L. Austin	Democratic- Republican	1811– 1812
	John T. Apthorp		1812– 1817
	Daniel Sargent		1817– 1822
	Nahum Mitchell	Federalist	1822– 1827
	Joseph Sewall		1827– 1832
	Hezekiah Barnard		1832– 1837
	David Wilder Jr.	Whig	1837– 1842
	Thomas Russell		1842– 1843
	John Mills		1843– 1844
	Thomas Russell		1844– 1845
	Joseph Barrett		1845– 1849
	Ebenezer Bradbury	Whig	1849– 1851
	Charles B. Hall		1851– 1853
	Jacob H. Loud		1853– 1855
	Thomas J. Marsh		1855– 1856
	Moses Tenney Jr.	Opposition	1856– 1861
	Henry Kemble Oliver	Republican	1861– 1866
	Jacob H. Loud	Republican	1866– 1871
	Charles Adams, Jr.	Republican	1871– 1876
	Charles Endicott	Republican	1876– 1881
	Daniel A. Gleason	Republican	1881– 1886
	Alanson W. Beard	Republican	1886– 1889
	George A. Marden	Republican	1889– 1894
	Henry M. Phillips	Republican	1894– April 12, 1895
	Edward P. Shaw	Republican	April 25, 1895– 1900
	Edward S. Bradford	Republican	1900–1905
	Arthur Chapin	Republican	1905– April 1, 1909
	Elmer A. Stevens	Republican	April 7, 1909– 1914
	Frederick Mansfield	Democratic	1914– 1915
	Charles L. Burrill	Republican	1915– 1920
	Fred J. Burrell	Republican	1920– September 3, 1920
	Albert P. Langtry (Acting) Henry A. Wyman (Acting) John R. Macomber (Acting)[23]	Republican	September 4, 1920– September 8, 1920
	James Jackson	Republican	September 8, 1920– 1924
	William S. Youngman	Republican	1924– 1928
	John W. Haigis	Republican	1928– 1930
	Charles F. Hurley	Democratic	1931– 1937
	Karl H. Oliver		1937
	William E. Hurley	Republican	1937– 1943
	Francis X. Hurley	Democratic	1943– 1945
	John E. Hurley	Democratic	1945– 1947
	Laurence Curtis	Republican	1947– 1949
	John E. Hurley	Democratic	1949– July 5, 1952
	Foster Furcolo	Democratic	July 5, 1952– 1955
	John Francis Kennedy	Democratic	1955– 1961
	John T. Driscoll	Democratic	1961– 1964
	Robert Q. Crane	Democratic	1964– 1991
	Joe Malone	Republican	January 3, 1991– January 7, 1999
	Shannon O'Brien	Democratic	January 7, 1999– January 2, 2003
	Tim Cahill	Democratic	January 2, 2003– July 2009
		Independent	July 2009– January 3, 2011
	Steve Grossman	Democratic	January 17, 2011– January 21, 2015
	Deb Goldberg	Democratic	January 21, 2015– present

See also

• Government budget

Notes

1. Massachusett's Office of the Treasurer and Receiver-General is therefore the oldest operating state treasurer's office in the United States.
2. Citizens of the Commonwealth of the Massachusetts are officially designated as "Bay Staters". Being a Bay Stater implies concurrent U.S. citizenship, which is required in order to vote in Massachusetts and to run for any public office, including that of treasurer and receiver-general.^[5][6]