State Treasurer Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

State Blacklisted BlackRock. But Guess What It’s Financing?

A report earlier this month from the Sierra Club shows that in 2022 and 2023, BlackRock bought more than $45 million in bonds issued by EQT Corporation.

One of the banks barred from state contracts by the Treasurer’s Office is financing the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

In 2022, following the enactment of Senate Bill 262, Treasurer Riley Moore issued the first list of “restricted financial institutions” he determined were not friendly to fossil fuels.

One of those was BlackRock. Moore accused the firm of putting China’s interests over West Virginia’s and encouraging companies to move away from coal, oil and natural gas.

“Any company that thinks Communist China is a better investment than West Virginia energy or American capitalism clearly has a bad strategy,” Moore said in 2022. “We will continue to give our state’s business to people who aren’t simultaneously trying to destroy our economy.”

Two years later, BlackRock is still on the list.

“It’s one of the largest shareholders of publicly traded fossil fuel companies on the planet,” said Ben Cushing, director of the Sierra Club’s Fossil Free Finance campaign.

A report earlier this month from the Sierra Club shows that in 2022 and 2023, BlackRock bought more than $45 million in bonds issued by EQT Corporation.

Not only is EQT one of the largest gas producers in Appalachia, it also is poised to be the biggest user of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Once the pipeline becomes operational this year, EQT plans to use it to ship 1.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day 303 miles from north central West Virginia to southern Virginia. That’s two-thirds of the pipeline’s total capacity.

Environmental groups and landowners have long opposed the pipeline. The state’s leading elected officials have been its biggest champions.

Cushing said BlackRock’s earlier public commitments to address climate change may have made it a target.

“Lots of speculation, I suppose as to why they’ve been particularly attacked, I think, because they are the biggest and one of the best well, well known and that they have at least nominally stated their commitment to climate action, has put them in the crosshairs of this climate denial movement,” he said. “But the fact remains that many of those commitments have not actually been implemented, and they continue to be one of the largest investors in fossil fuels in the world.”

Five banks are on the original list. Moore sent letters this week to six more. They have 45 days to prove they’re not boycotting fossil fuels, or they will be added to the list.

Jared Hunt, a Treasury spokesman, said SB 262 allows any company to petition the Treasurer to be removed from the list. None has asked to be removed, Hunt said.

The ‘Checks In The Mail’ May Be For You

The state Treasurer’s Office recently mailed checks to 3,314 state residents worth more than $3.7 million. These are unclaimed property the treasurer’s office is tasked with returning to its rightful owners.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “the check’s in the mail,” but this time it’s real, and you may not even know it’s coming.

Recipients should have received letters in July notifying them they should be receiving a check identified as “West Virginia Cash Now.”

“I encourage all West Virginians to go back through their mail from the past month to check and see if they received an envelope from our office – you may have a check inside,” Moore said. “These checks are part of our automated unclaimed property return program and the funds are 100 percent yours, so we encourage you to open your mail and cash those checks today.”

The checks are good for six months otherwise they will be voided and the funds go back to the Unclaimed Property Division.

“We don’t want your unclaimed property check to become unclaimed property,” Moore said. “We’re doing everything we can to quickly return money to you, we just need you to cash the check.”

West Virginia Cash Now launched last year as an automated system to return unclaimed property without the need to file paperwork with the Treasurer’s Office.

U.S. Senate Disclosure Shows Justice’s Debts, Biggest Creditors

Gov. Jim Justice’s U.S. Senate candidate financial disclosure form reveals details not found in his filings to the state ethics commission. He must report his liabilities as a Senate candidate but not as governor.

Gov. Jim Justice’s U.S. Senate candidate financial disclosure form reveals details not found in his filings to the state ethics commission.

He must report his liabilities as a Senate candidate but not as governor.

Justice is not required to list his debts in his annual disclosure filed with the West Virginia Ethics Commission.

However, his disclosure as a U.S. Senate candidate, filed Monday, shows tens of millions of dollars in liabilities.

For example, Justice owes $25 million to $50 million to JP Morgan Chase. The New York bank is his largest single creditor.

It is also one of the five banks on the state treasurer’s restricted financial institutions list, because that office determined the bank was “boycotting” fossil fuel investments.

Justice made his fortune in the coal business, and most of his assets are coal-related.

The law behind the restricted financial institutions list, SB 262, does not apply to Justice. It blocks the institutions on it from receiving state contracts.

A recent Sierra Club report found that JP Morgan Chase and other banned banks are some of the biggest backers of electric utilities that burn coal.

The state’s ethics code exempts the disclosure of debts “resulting from the ordinary conduct of your business, profession or occupation” and “to a financial institution or credit card company.”

The debts listed in Justice’s Senate disclosure do not include the additional tens of millions of dollars he owes in taxes, fees and penalties to states in which he does business or the federal government.

The U.S. Justice Department is suing 13 of Justice’s companies to recover $7.6 million in civil penalties, administrative fees and interest.

The Senate disclosure requires candidates to report liabilities of $10,000 or more.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Endorses State Treasurer Riley Moore

Born in Morgantown into the West Virginia Moore-Capito political family, Moore began his career as a welder before moving into politics. In 2013, he served as an associate at the Podesta Group where he was part of a client team working on the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECFMU), which was formed to represent the Party of Regions, a banned pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has endorsed State Treasurer Riley Moore for the 2nd Congressional District seat in the Republican primary next year.

McCarthy’s endorsement of Riley Moore, for West Virginia’s Second Congressional District, could help Moore in his primary election bid, where there are currently no declared Democrats in the race.

The heavily Republican district opened up after incumbent Rep. Alex Mooney announced his candidacy for West Virginia’s Senate seat currently held by Democrat Joe Manchin. Manchin hasn’t yet said if he’ll seek re-election. Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Jim Justice has entered the race.

Moore later stated that he was unaware of any illegal activity after the Podesta Group was named in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation over alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. He was never identified as a person associated with the case.

Moore’s cousin, Del. Moore Capito, the son of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has announced plans to run for governor of West Virginia next year. His grandfather, Arch Moore, served as governor in the 1970s and ’80s.

Before being elected to the role of state treasurer, Riley Moore served in the West Virginia House of Delegates for the 67th district. He beat six-term incumbent Democrat John Perdue for his current role as state treasurer in 2020.

An outspoken opponent of environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, Moore pulled West Virginia from the BlackRock Incorporated’s investment fund because of its stance on fossil fuels.

He also threatened to bar JP Morgan Chase and other big banks from doing business in West Virginia over what alleged fossil fuel boycotts.

The endorsement of Moore marks one of McCarthy’s first campaign moves since a showdown on Capitol Hill over the nation’s borrowing limit. Republicans have a narrow majority in the 435-member chamber.

Hope Scholarship Reinstated: What’s Next?

With the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reinstating the Hope Scholarship program, the concept of public funding for private schooling becomes a reality.

Morgantown mom Katie Switzer appealed the Hope Scholarship and won. She said her daughter, Ruth, has a rare speech disorder, best treated by a private speech therapist who does not take insurance.

“We used the early intervention program here in West Virginia called Birth to Three and it was great. But when she graduated from that program, we were able to find a speech therapist that specializes in apraxia of speech,” Switzer said. “At the time, there was only one in the state who practiced in person. Unfortunately, most speech therapists aren’t trained to treat this disorder, so we have been paying for her to go to see this private speech therapist for more than two years now.”

Switzer and her daughter love her public school kindergarten class, but she said it doesn’t meet all of Ruth’s educational needs. Switzer has hopes that Hope Scholarships can lead to new public school revenue streams.

“It opens the door to make this really flexible system,” Switzer said. “A system where the public schools can offer programs to homeschoolers or to private school kids, and they can take Hope money”

Attorney Tamerlin Godley with Public Funds, Public Schools represented parents who challenged the constitutionality of Hope Scholarships. She said in the three countries that have instituted universal vouchers, education suffers.

“In all of those countries, all of the peer reviewed research shows that there is increased segregation, by race and by socio-economics,” Godley said. “And the achievement in the public schools goes dramatically down.”

Godley said West Virginia students and public schools will also suffer from millions of dollars in diverted funding.

“These bills are put forward by people who want to dismantle public education,” Godley said. “We know the people that are behind this. Public education is the primary driver of social mobility in the United States.”

The split decision Supreme Court of Appeals court ruling came after only two days of deliberations.

Back In July, Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit halted the legislative program, ruling that the $4,300 offered to about 3,000 students for non-public school educational expenses was unconstitutional, diverting millions of dollars from an already underfunded public school system.

The order reversing the lower court ruling noted “The nature of the constitutional matters at issue and the need to resolve the appeal in an expedited manner.”

A Supreme Court of Appeals opinion will be released at a later date.

Godley said there’s a possibility the case could be remanded back to Circuit Court.

State Treasurer Riley Moore chairs the Hope Scholarship Board. He said Hope payments should be disbursed Jan. 1 for the winter semester and expects they will be paid retroactively for the fall semester.

“It might just all come in one lump sum in January. But some of that, obviously, is going to be contingent upon how quickly we can get the Department of Education and everybody to move,” Moore said. “We’re going to be pushing extremely hard. The first step in that process is to get approval from the board on my motion to file this emergency rule to authorize the payments.”

Moore said he does not see any pending negative Hope Scholarship funding effect on public education.

”We’re making these dollars for education competitive. It’s going to raise the standard and quality of education in the state of West Virginia,” Moore said. “If a student decides to leave a public school and go to a private school, a Christian school or homeschool, those dollars are going to go with that student, and the financial requirements to educate that student will no longer exist for that public school.”

Moore said a free education for West Virginia students will not go away.

In a statement, West Virginia Board of Education President Paul Hardesty said the board respects the court’s decision and will move forward without delay.

“I am confident that this legislature and this governor will continue to fund public education at adequate levels,” Hardesty said. “The state board has directed the State Superintendent and the State Department of Education to work closely with the State Treasurer to support a seamless and timely implementation of the Hope Scholarship program.”

Decades On The Job Versus New Ideas — Meet Perdue And Moore, Candidates For W.Va. State Treasurer

The West Virginia State Treasurer is one of the many ticket items on the ballot this year. The office manages $16 billion annually. It’s responsible for overseeing the state’s operating funds, monitoring the state’s debt and performing additional banking and accounting duties.

The West Virginia Office of the State Treasurer was established at the Constitutional Convention held in Wheeling in 1863 after West Virginia split from Virginia.

The two candidates seeking the seat this year are incumbent John Perdue, a Democrat, and former House of Delegates member Riley Moore, a Republican.

Democrat John Perdue has held the office of state Treasurer, or Chief Financial Officer, since 1996. He’s held the position longer than anyone in West Virginia’s history and is currently the second longest-serving state treasurer in the nation.

He said the people of West Virginia motivate him to keep running for the office.

“I’ve never forgotten that I work for the people of this state. And I will continue to do that as their treasurer, regardless of politics,” Purdue said. “It’s about your work ethic and what you can do to manage the assets of this state, and I think I’ve proven that.”

Early in his career, Perdue worked for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture. He went on to work in the office of former Gov. Gaston Caperton. He said it was during the job with Caperton that he learned he really liked working with numbers and budgets.

“When I became state Treasurer, I realized I had a big job ahead of me in returning trust back to the treasurer’s office,” Perdue said. “And we started immediately working on that by putting professionalism into the office and the technology in the office to be able to manage the checkbook of the state.”

But he said he also feels very strongly about education issues. Perdue said that’s why he made it a priority to oversee a savings plan called SMART529. It’s a program designed to encourage families to save for college.

“The flexibility of that program gives you the opportunity to be able to go to technical education and become an expert in that and get the certification to be able to do that,” Perdue said. “You can use that money to buy the tools to be able to help with education.”

In his 24 years on the job, Perdue has also overseen other savings plans. One is for people with disabilities called WVABLE. Another is a financial education initiative called NetWorth and a budget simulation called “Get a Life.”

He’s hosted workshops and conferences to help West Virginians learn how to manage their financial assets. He’s returned more than $230 million in unclaimed property, and he heads the West Virginia Retirement Plus program.

It’s this track record, as Perdue puts it, that he’s hoping West Virginians will re-elect him for a seventh term.

“I think you stand on your record,” Perdue said. “I’m running on my record and what I’ve brought to the treasurer’s office – what I’ve brought to the people of the state of West Virginia.”

But Republican Riley Moore, who’s challenging Perdue on the ballot in November, thinks Perdue has moved too slowly on issues and has had long enough in the office.

Moore is running on three key areas: accountability, modernization, and transparency. He said the treasurer’s office should have term limits, similar to the office of governor or the president. By instituting term limits, Moore said, it will help spur change more frequently and bring innovative ideas to the office.

“I think that’s one of those things that is really good for transparency and accountability,” Moore said. “To have new blood, new ideas in the office and limit the amount of terms that an individual can serve in that capacity.”

Another major area for Moore is creating a savings account strictly to help those individuals who are graduating trade school or vocational programs and help them jump into the workforce. He calls this his Jump Start Savings Program.

Before entering public service, Moore was a welder while in college. It was this experience, he said, that opened his eyes to the needs of the working class. His Jump Start savings account would help individuals purchase major equipment for their career.

“People that are coming out of a trade, technical and community college, they could save money to buy tools, equipment, licenses and certifications in their trade or vocation,” Moore said. “Which I think would not only be prepared in terms of training, but we would have them equipped as well for the future.”

Moore said his program is different from the SMART529 plan, in that people will be able to save for tools and equipment for a job rather than for school.

“I think West Virginia is so well-suited for a program like this,” Moore said. “And I think we could demonstrate to the rest of the country what happens when we put a focus on the working people.”

Moore also said he’s suited for the job of treasurer after his work in the West Virginia House of Delegates where he served for three state Legislative sessions from 2016 to 2018.

While in the Legislature, Moore spearheaded the creation of the State Police Forensic Laboratory Fund. He was also a major supporter of medical cannabis access in West Virginia, which was approved by the Legislature in 2017. Moore said that program has yet to launch and claims Perdue’s office delayed the selection of a financial institution to handle banking for the medical cannabis industry.

“That is what I want to change in that office,” Moore said. “We’re going to move faster. We’re going to modernize that office. We’re going to be more transparent about what we’re doing, and that is why we need term limits to put pressure on people to perform within a certain given time period, not an indefinite one.”

Whether Moore can push his ideas for the office – when it comes to the banking aspect of medical cannabis or any of the other programs administered by the treasurer’s office – all depends on him unseating Perdue.

The race for state Treasurer, like all others in the general election, will be sorted out by voters as ballots come in through Nov. 3.