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With the 2024 General Election coming this Nov. 5, the two candidates for State Treasurer are reaching out to voters to share their respective platforms. The following interviews are not intended to take sides or advocate for any individual candidates but rather to incite a sense of involvement among voters and help encourage participation in our country’s democratic process on election day.
In the race for Washington State Treasurer, Mike Pellicciotti (D) is working to retain his seat against candidate Sharon Hanek (R).
MIKE PELLICCIOTTI
Mike Pellicciotti was elected Washington State Treasurer in 2021. This followed his run in the State House from 2017-2021 representing North Pierce County and South King County, his first time to hold public office. During this time, he was also an assistant attorney general, his “day job” in addition to the parttime work required in the legislature.
Pellicciotti chose to run for State Treasurer because, “A lot of the work I had been doing in the state legislature was focused on issues of greater government transparency, especially financial transparency,” he said. “Issues of financial transparency are very important to me, and I felt there was a need for greater transparency in public finances.”
Pellicciotti said that the position of State Treasurer not only plays an important role from the good government standpoint of making sure that public finances are well managed, but also that the public can have better access to the funds that belong to the public. This is what influenced him to establish a “Transparency Portal” on the State Treasurer website (tre.wa.gov).
As stated at the portal, “Washington has many state agencies, each with a different focus and objectives. Each one produces fiscal data that is publicly available, but not always easy to find. The Transparency Portal is designed to help direct you to the information you are looking for, no matter which agency created the data.”
The Treasurer’s Office goal is for the portal to keep growing as the public gives input on how it can provide additional information that may be helpful for citizens to find everything they’re looking for.
“Government only works when people have confidence in it,” Pellicciotti said. “The more we can demystify public finances and financial issues more generally, the more the public can participate and communicate to their elected officials on how they want their money being spent.”
Bringing more active financial education for seniors, veterans and people throughout the state is another of Pellicciotti’s priorities, as is advocating for state legislation that requires financial education be taught in Washington schools today.
“We are now one of a minority of states that do not require that financial education be taught and it’s past time that the legislature require that schools provide financial education to students,” he said.
Pellicciotti said he is proud of the fact that under his watch, our state has maintained a Moody’s AAA credit rating and just this year, U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington at number one in the nation for long-term fiscal stability. He said our state receives a positive credit outlook from Standard & Poor as well.
“It’s a big deal to get that recognition. It’s what happens when you look long-term instead of on short-term objectives and make sure that things are well positioned for the needs of the current generation and the kids and grandkids of Washingtonians as well,” he said.
Pellicciotti noted that he exercises fiscal responsibility in his own political life as well.
“I’m one of the first elected officials, and one of the only, who has always rejected all corporate campaign donations. What is key is that elected officials are free of any corporate campaign donation entanglements so that they can always represent the interests of the public first. It creates better confidence in government and that’s what people are looking for.
“I’m proud that as state treasurer, I’ve visited each of our state’s 39 counties and met with folks all around the state, and that’s the best way to govern – to connect with folks.”
Mike Pellicciotti SHARON HANEK
Sharon Hanek’s first foray into public office was in 2008 when she was a candidate for state representative in the 31st District. She then ran for the Pierce County Charter Review Commission, winning that position and being elected as chair of the commission. In 2012, she was a write-in candidate for state treasurer.
“I was able to run in the General Election and like all other Republicans, we didn’t do well,” she said of that year’s elections.
Now she’s running again for state treasurer to bring her experience as a Certified Public Accountant to the office. Since 1980 Hanek has done this work, helping small business owners get established and helping with finances of non-profits, little league and political organizations. She earned her degree in Business Administration and Accounting from the University of Washington and was president of the UW International Business Students Association.
“The role of a CPA has some different skill sets it brings with it, not just overseeing, administrating and managing but you get into understanding financial systems,” she said.
Hanek said that she doesn’t think there is anything necessarily going wrong in the Treasurer’s Office but, “I just believe that there are things not being done that I could bring a different skill set to the table,” she said, including that more oversight and internal controls are needed in Washington state financial systems to ensure proper checks and balances are being conducted. She says she is prepared to challenge the legislature to exercise greater caution in tax and spending decisions.
“What I see in the government is that you have all these systems running and every agency has their own accounting systems all tied together into the master accounting system of the state but I’m wondering if there is anyone actually monitoring the whole picture and making sure that state agencies are doing their jobs,” Hanek said. “It’s just to help guide every agency and anyone handling money and making sure they have proper procedures in place and that those procedures are being followed.”
Hanek recounted one incident in which she found something amiss in the state transportation budget lead committee’s report that she was reviewing.
“The numbers didn’t add up. Even on a report that’s online for the public to see, things weren’t adding up. I called the Office of Financial Management and by that afternoon it was fixed. It could have just been a typo or something so I’m not judging it. I’m just saying it didn’t look right,” she said. “Those are the little things that are the way a CPA thinks. I would view things in a little bit different manner to make sure that the reports are reasonable looking, that they add up, and that’s engrained in me.”
Hanek comes from a military family. Her father, George Koshi, was among Japanese Americans who served as interpreters in the U.S. Military Intelligence Service in World War II.
“He helped General MacArthur write the constitution for Japan,” she said. “I was raised after the war, but my father stayed in Japan the whole time because he was a liaison between the U.S. and the Japanese government. I feel that my children have a real hero that they can look up to.”
Sharon Hanek