Office of the General Treasurer Releases 2021 Annual Report
PROVIDENCE, RI – General Treasurer Seth Magaziner today released the Office of the General Treasurer’s 2021 Annual Report, which provides an overview of the performance of the programs and initiatives of the office over the past year as Treasurer Magaziner and his team have worked to increase economic opportunity and financial stability for Rhode Islanders.
“Over the last year, our office has made significant progress towards our vision of building a stronger, more resilient economy in our state by fixing school buildings, putting Rhode Islanders to work on clean energy projects, supporting small businesses, and growing the state’s pension fund that thousands of Rhode Islanders and their families rely on for retirement security,” said General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. “The 2021 Annual Report provides a useful summary of the programs our office offers to help Rhode Island families become more financially secure, and our initiatives to build a stronger economy for Rhode Island.”
The 2021 Annual Report provides an overview of the many programs run by the Treasurer’s office over the last year including:
- Continuing the once-in-a-generation investment in Rhode Island’s school buildings under the statewide school construction program developed by Treasurer Magaziner and the School Building Task Force and overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2018. The program has already allocated $1.7 billion to repair or replace more than 180 school buildings in communities across the state, creating 28,000 construction-related jobs and benefitting over 100,000 Rhode Island students annually.
- Passing legislation guaranteeing personal finance education for all students in Rhode Island. The legislation was signed into law in June 2021 and will be incorporated into curricula across the state during the 2022-2023 school year.
- Managing the state pension system to an all-time year-end high of $10.79 billion and outperforming 92% of other public pension funds in investment performance during 2021.
- Putting thousands of Rhode Islanders to work in good-paying jobs on energy efficiency projects through the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank that has to date provided more than $60.9 million in loans through the Efficient Buildings Fund and more than $84 million through the C-PACE program.
- Helping nearly 400 Rhode Island small businesses access over $47 million dollars in capital through BankLOCAL, a program created by Treasurer Magaziner that helps small businesses get loans to grow and hire by moving millions of dollars of the State’s cash to local banks and credit unions.
- Reuniting 21,000 people with more than $13.7 million of their unclaimed property in 2021. Since 2015, Treasurer Magaziner’s administration has reunited nearly 100,000 individuals with more than $86 million dollars.
- Providing financial assistance to over 1,000 victims of violent crime in 2021 alone and more than $8.3 million since 2015, including relocation assistance to hundreds of survivors of domestic violence.
- Maintaining CollegeBound Saver’s status as one of the highest-rated 529 savings programs in the country, with over $5.2 billion in assets across nearly 200,000 accounts, and expanding the programs to cover the costs associated with apprenticeships, a great way for Rhode Islanders to enter good-paying, stable careers.