State Treasurer Dale Folwell is doing things a bit differently from his predecessors. Typically, state treasurers are behind-the-scenes managers, but Folwell is very much a public figure. Writing at salisburypost.com, Elizabeth Cook looks at Dale Folwell’s tenure.

Since taking office, Folwell has reduced the $700 million a year the state pays Wall Street firms to manage retirement funds by $75 million and intends to cut more fees. He’s moving the state toward less expensive, mostly indexed investments and managing them in-house.

Cook asked our Mitch Kokai to assess Dale Folwell’s impact.

Kokai says the treasurer deserves high marks for raising the profile of the office, cutting costs and taking on thankless tasks such as trying to convince policymakers they need to address unfunded liabilities.

As our Joe Coletti points out in our policy guide, the issue of unfunded liabilities looms large.

  • Unfunded liabilities for pensions and retiree health benefits total $40 billion or more.