Wolf Nominates Reese for Treasurer

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf will nominate Timothy Reese to succeed the disgraced Rob McCord as state treasurer, the governor's office said Tuesday.

The state Senate must confirm the nomination.

"At a time when Treasury needs a steady hand, Tim brings more than two decades of significant finance and business experience," Wolf said in a statement.

McCord resigned from the elected position in January, and in February pleaded guilty to two federal counts of attempted extortion. He admitted using his office to try to bully state contractors into donating money when he ran for governor last year. McCord, treasurer for six years, lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary to Wolf, who took office in January.

Christopher Craig, chief counsel for the treasurer's office, will run the office until the Senate confirms Reese.

McCord has not been the only Pennsylvania elected official under a white-hot glare. Attorney General Kathleen Kane faces possible criminal charges of leaking grand jury information.

The state treasurer's office in Harrisburg is no stranger to scandal. Treasurer Budd Dwyer fatally shot himself in the mouth in January 1987 at a press conference in Harrisburg before his scheduled sentencing on a federal bribery charge.

Reese, 51, of Montgomery County, now serves on the board of advisors for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

He launched National Minority Angel Network to focus on investing in women, minority, and veteran-owned companies. According to Wolf's office, the founding partners have collectively invested $2.4 million in 14 ventures and achieved exit values of $320 million for investors in those ventures.

Reese has consulted with early to growth stage companies and reviewed investment opportunities for venture capital firms, private equity and angel networks.

He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and electronics technology from Temple University and was a fellow at Temple's Fox School of Business. He also served as a national panelist with the White House Jobs Tour and Entrepreneur in Residence at the Fox School of Business.

If confirmed, Reese would assume a leadership position in a state that has drawn harsh glare within the capital markets. Pennsylvania last year received downgrades from the three major bond ratings, all of which cited the unfunded pension liability of the commonwealth's two major pension plans, the State Employees Retirement System and the Public School Employees Retirement System.

Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's now rate Pennsylvania's general obligation bonds AA-minus. Moody's Investors Service rates them Aa3.

 

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