Treasurer’s Office Targeted

The Kentucky treasurer’s office would be eliminated as a statewide elected office under a proposed constitutional amendment passed by the Senate this week. The bill now moves to the House.

The amendment would need voter approval as well as approval from the auditor and attorney general.

SB 14, sponsored by Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, would consolidate the treasurer’s responsibilities into other executive branch agencies. Thayer maintains the treasurer’s office is an elected office that has become obsolete. He indicated that the Finance and Administration Cabinet would be a likely candidate for the duties. The treasurer’s office has an annual budget of $3.2 million, he said, and some of that could be saved through its elimination.

In a news release, Sen. Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort, argued that an independent treasurer’s office provided a valuable check on the governor’s ability to spend state money. But Thayer said that legislative independence has been achieved over the years so that makes that check unnecessary.

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