Open House Forum - A Conversation with State Treasurer Timothy Cahill

APRIL “OPEN HOUSE” DISCUSSES Managing Public Finances in a Recessionary Economy:

A Conversation with Massachusetts State Treasurer Timothy Cahill

Representative Jay Kaufman's award winning public policy forum, OPEN HOUSE, this month examines the role and the many functions of the Treasurer and Receiver General of the Commonwealth. From overseeing the states' pension fund, to providing the funding and schedule for how all new schools in the state are built, to ensuring continued success in the Lottery, the Treasurer clearly does more than just sign state employees paychecks. The forum will be on Thursday, April 17, 2008, from 7:30PM-8:30PM, at the historic Depot in Lexington Center.

Treasurer Cahill directs and is responsible for the following agencies success:

Managing the Massachusetts School Building Authority, an independent agency created in 2004 that oversees all school construction financing. MSBA began with a list of 428 school projects awaiting completion and funding. Today, 350 of those schools are complete and $5 billion has been reimbursed to cities, towns and regional school districts, resulting in $2 billion in saved interest costs.
Diversifying assets of the state retirement fund (PRIT), which has increased over 103% since Treasurer Cahill took office, including growing over $27.8 billion since 2003. PRIM’s Economically Targeted Investment program has committed $230 million with investment firms that will create economic opportunity, jobs and housing.
Returning $4.6 billion in Lottery local aid to cities and towns in Massachusetts over the past five years.
Creating a Job Growth Initiative, which leverages Treasury resources and works with banking partners to create jobs and affordable housing in Massachusetts. To date, $1.25 billion has been committed, including $590 million of leveraged capital from the Treasury. The Job Growth Initiative has created 6,506 new jobs and has the potential to create an additional 2,500 new jobs over the next four years.
Finding $1.1 billion in Abandoned Property and returning cash claims totaling more than $234 million, and using cutting-edge technology to hold two eBay auctions of unclaimed jewelry, coins and other items from safe deposit boxes, garnering over $330,000 for the state

Over its 12+ years, OPEN HOUSE has addressed issues ranging from reinventing public education to gay marriage, property tax relief to campaign finance reform, the shrinking middle class to stem cell research, the nature of political leadership to the challenges of effecting fundamental change in a democracy. While Representative Kaufman has hosted hundreds of guests with a wide range of backgrounds and expertise, the forums have featured an open town meeting format, with audience questions and comments largely shaping the conversation.

In 1997, OPEN HOUSE was awarded the prestigious Beacon Award, cable television’s equivalent of an Emmy, as the nation’s best government relations series. The series was also named the best television series by Massachusetts Cable Television broadcast throughout eastern Massachusetts. OPEN HOUSE is produced in partnership with the Lexington Historical Society and LexMedia, and is broadcast throughout eastern Massachusetts.

For more information on OPEN HOUSE, please call Representative Kaufman’s State House office at (617) 722-2240 or email sean.fitzgerald@state.ma.us