State treasurer shares roles, goals at La Conner Rotary meeting

La Conner Rotarians thanked the guest speaker at their Monday meeting for being right on the money.

Mike Pellicciotti said doing so is merely part of his job as the state's banker.

Pellicciotti, who was elected Washington state Treasurer in 2020, shared his roles and goals during a briskly paced La Conner Rotary Club program at Shawn O'Donnell's American Grill & Irish Pub.

For Pellicciotti, it was his 55th Rotary Club appearance.

"I think it's important to get around to local Rotary clubs," Pellicciotti, a Democrat who grew up in Indiana and earned a law degree from Gonzaga University, told the Weekly News prior to the meeting. "It's a great way to connect with local leaders."

Pellicciotti is up for re-election this fall and refrained from discussing politics, a stance Rotarians said afterward they appreciated and found refreshing.

"There are two people running, me and somebody else," Pellicciotti said when asked about the 2024 election.

"I have no specific agenda," he had said to the Weekly News earlier. "I just talk about the workings of the office."

He emphasized the state treasurer's duties as Washington's chief financial and investment officer, a position reliant in great measure upon establishing a strong bi-partisan working relationship with lawmakers.

A former assistant attorney general and two-term member of the state House of Representatives, Pellicciotti said legislators have acted upon several of his office's fiscal recommendations. That has resulted in a strong statewide financial rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Pellicciotti said the state has received the highest AAA credit rating from the Moody's investment analysis agency, is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the top state for long-term fiscal stability and that Washington has realized investment returns 50 times greater than it did three years ago.

He said his office, comprised of a mostly veteran 70-member staff, also handles about $35 billion in state and local investments that can tangibly benefit Washington residents and achieve cost savings for taxpayers.

Pellicciotti cited as an example the state's Local Option Capital Asset Lending Program that helps local governments finance major projects with the lowest possible interest rates. Additionally, since 2021 state debt has been refinanced, saving hundreds of millions of dollars.

The state's fiscal practices have also been modernized under his watch.

"It's nothing glamorous," he conceded. "It just helps things run more smoothly."

Pellicciotti said his legal background and work as a legislator have served him well.

"I think it's an advantage," he explained, "because I know how to navigate the budgetary process.

"I think I have the best job in state government," he insisted during his interview with the Weekly News. "It's a position that can help people meet their essential needs."

Pellicciotti, recounting the experience of his grandmother who retired after a long career in janitorial services, is a staunch advocate for pension protection. He lists retirement dignity along with academic opportunity and providing tools for economic success among his core beliefs.

"The legislature has followed our recommendations to make sure the funding (for retirement pensions) is there," Pellicciotti said. "Washington state now has, depending on which ranking you follow, either the No. 1 or No. 3-rated pension fund in the nation."

He also lauds Washington state's adoption of a program allowing workers to have payroll deductions professionally invested for their post-employment years, if their employers do not provide retirement benefits.

The Rotarians were especially supportive of Pellicciotti's goal to have economics and consumer finance taught in Washington's schools.

"As a retired banker, I can't imagine anything better than providing financial literacy to students," said club president Audrey Gravely.

During questions-and-answers, Pellicciotti said his office, when weighing its mission, "thinks in terms of 10, 20, 40 years out and not the next election cycle."

He said he appreciated Danielle Mullen's long view question asking why tolls are removed from bridges once their construction debts are paid.

"Why not leave those tolls on for future maintenance?" she asked.

Pellicciotti said it was the first time he had heard someone suggest tolls be extended beyond debt retirement.

"If you're not considering maintenance costs," he said, "you're not considering the entire cost of a project. It's something that the legislature really needs to look at."

Prior to leaving, Pellicciotti expressed optimism for the 2024-25 Gonzaga men's basketball season and signed a children's book that La Conner Rotary will send to a mobile library in Honduras.

"I'm very pleased you found us and came to visit," Gravley told Pellicciotti. "It was a very informative program and was very nice to have you here."