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Yesterday, Treasurer Lynn Fitch spoke at the Neshoba County Fair highlighting her successful tenure as State Treasurer.
“Together, there’s no limit to what our state can accomplish,” stated Treasurer Fitch. “I’m proud of my record as your State Treasurer, and my commitment to you is to continue to be a positive leader with a positive plan for Mississippi’s financial future.”
Treasurer Fitch highlighted several accomplishments spanning the agency’s primary programs and responsibilities:
· Saving Mississippi taxpayers $69 Million dollars through restructuring the state’s debt.
· Maintaining the state’s strong AA credit rating while working to be a positive ambassador to the rating agencies and bond investors.
· Returning over $41 Million in unclaimed property to the rightful owners as well as modernizing the reporting and claims processes to make it more business friendly and claimant friendly.
· Reopening the Mississippi Prepaid Affordable College Tuition Plan (MPACT) after reevaluating the program to ensure the taxpayers were safeguarded going forward.
· Growing the Mississippi Affordable College Savings Plan (MACS) which currently has a record $186 Million in assets.
· Expanding her financial literacy initiative, called the Treasurer’s Education About Money (TEAM), which has now reached over 15,000 students in over 200 schools.
Treasurer Fitch expanded on one of the more difficult decisions in the past four years, pushing to defer enrollments to MPACT.
“We suspended MPACT because it was not sustainable,” Treasurer Fitch noted. “We were losing ground on every new contract. I was not going to allow taxpayers to be forced to bail out this program. Not on my watch. Leading is an action word, and we took action that was fiscally prudent and necessary to shore up a program that is backed by the full faith and credit of our state.”
Fitch continued to say that her agency accomplishments are tied together “by educating our children; by saving for their college education; by teaching them the critical life skill of personal finance; and then they will become the workforce of the future. We have a great state and we must all be ambassadors. We must all work to move Mississippi forward in a positive way.”
