Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver General Deborah B. Goldberg has assumed office as president of the National Association of State Treasurers.
Goldberg, who was elected by NAST members at their annual meeting last February, succeeds Utah State Treasurer David Damschen, whose term ended at the end of 2019.
NAST said its new president will lead the association’s efforts to provide advocacy and support for sound fiscal policies and programs.
The association's top legislative priorities include promoting and maintaining tax-exempt municipal bonds, restoring the ability to use tax exempt advance refunding of municipal bonds, financial literacy, 529 college savings plans, ABLE accounts, and unclaimed property.
Goldberg is serving her second term as state treasurer, having been been elected to her first four-year term in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. She was the first Jewish woman ever elected to statewide office in Massachusetts.
Goldberg earlier was elected to the Brookline town Board of Selectmen, serving there between 1998 and 2004.
She ran unsuccessfully in a three-way Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in 2006.
A graduate of Boston University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree, Goldberg also earned a law degree at Boston College and a master’s degree in public administration at Harvard Business School.
“I look forward to leading my bipartisan colleagues in our efforts to enhance economic stability and economic security for all citizens in every one of our states," Goldberg said in a press statement. “We will collaborate to promote legislation that supports our initiatives to rebuild infrastructure, increase access to financial literacy programs, enhance returning unclaimed property to its rightful owners, and grow affordable retirement and ABLE savings accounts.”
A policy briefing on the status of legislation to reinstate tax-exempt advance refundings of municipal bonds is among the topics that will be discussed at the next NAST annual legislative conference scheduled for Feb. 9 through 11 in Washington, D.C.
At last year’s NAST conference, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., spoke optimistically about efforts to work out an agreement on infrastructure legislation with the Trump administration.
That effort later failed, but Neal more recently has said he is continuing to remain in contract with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
NAST’s membership comprises all state treasurers or state finance officials with comparable responsibilities from the United States, its commonwealths, territories, and the District of Columbia, along with employees of these agencies.
NAST describes itself as “the nation’s leading advocate for responsible state treasury programs and related financial practices and policies.”
The association serves its members through educational conferences and webinars, a variety of working groups, policy advocacy, and publications that provide information about developments in public finance.
