Joe Torsella

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In 2015, Torsella announced his candidacy for State Treasurer of Pennsylvania. [58] It was an open seat election. The position of treasurer was being held by Timothy A. Reese, who was nominated and confirmed in June 2015 following the resignation of Rob McCord. Reese promised not to run for election, when nominated for the appointment.

Torsella's policy proposals included universal college savings accounts, [59] portable IRAs for Pennsylvania workers whose employers do not offer retirement savings plans, [60] banning the corrupt practice of third-party marketers introducing money managers to the state, [61] appointing a chief integrity officer for Treasury, [62] creating an online Pennsylvania Sunshine Checkbook that shows all state spending, [63] disclosing all state contracts on alternative investments, adding political contributions by contract-holders to the Treasury's state contracts database, and requiring those trading public funds to disclose their personal trades. [64]

He also garnered high-profile endorsements from Barack Obama, [65] Mayor Michael Bloomberg, [66] and Governor Ed Rendell. [67]

On November 8, 2016, Torsella was elected Treasurer, defeating Republican Otto Voit III of Berks County. Torsella captured 50.66% of the vote, winning by a larger margin (380,593 votes) than any other statewide candidate. [68]

Torsella was sworn in as Pennsylvania's State Treasurer on January 17, 2017. [69]

2020

Torsella sought a second term in 2020. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the general election, Torsella faced Republican nominee Stacy Garrity. Garrity ultimately defeated Torsella in his bid for a second term by a 48.6%–47.9% margin. Torsella's defeat was considered to be an upset, as he possessed a sizable fundraising advantage and consistently led Garrity in polling throughout the campaign. [70] [71]

Integrity initiatives

Torsella giving a press conference in 2019. Pennsylvania Makes Largest Rainy Day Fund Transfer in Nearly Two Decades - 48244348292.jpg
Torsella giving a press conference in 2019.

Torsella's first act as Treasurer was instating a formal ban on third-party placement agents. In his first week in office, Torsella implemented the Treasury Department's first ever code of conduct policy. The policy covers all personnel involved with investment activities and their immediate family members. That same week Torsella reduced the size of the Department's vehicle fleet by more than half, returning eleven vehicles to the Commonwealth.

Torsella appointed the Department's first ever Chief Integrity Officer in February 2017. He appointed Kenya Mann Faulkner to the position. She served as Pennsylvania's Inspector General under Tom Corbett’s Administration. Torsella continued his pursuit of integrity and accountability with new pre-payment auditing practices for the Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Review. The new practices save more than $50 million annually.

In April 2017, Torsella transitioned all public equity investment holdings to a low-cost, index investment strategy. The action is estimated to save taxpayers $5 million a year. The move to index investments reduces fees and risk on investments while improving returns for taxpayers.

In June 2017, Torsella led a bipartisan effort of fellow state treasurers to help protect American families and their ability to save for retirement.

PA ABLE

In April 2017, Torsella teamed up with more than 200 disability advocates, families, state lawmakers and U.S. Senator Bob Casey to officially open Pennsylvania Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE) Savings Program. Casey sponsored the federal legislation that authorized states to establish ABLE accounts. PA ABLE allows those with disabilities and their families a way to save for disability related expenses without losing access to benefits they may depend on.

Keystone Scholars

In February 2018, Torsella, along with state lawmakers, announced the launch of the state's first universal children's savings program for higher education, Keystone Scholars. The pilot program provided a $100 grant as a starter deposit in a PA 529 plan for all babies born from the designated counties in 2018. The goal of the program is to encourage families to start saving early for postsecondary education expenses, and to encourage postsecondary education ambitions.

The demonstration project was funded by $2.25 million in private funds. Philanthropic funding sources include the PHEAA Foundation, the Neubauer Family Foundation, and the National Philanthropic Trust. Torsella became the program's first philanthropic donor in 2017, when he donated his automatic pay increase. He continues to donate his annual pay increase to Keystone Scholars.

Keystone Scholars legislation drew bipartisan support and was sponsored by Senators John Gordner (R) and Vincent Hughes (D), and Representative Duane Milne (R). Keystone Scholars was passed by Pennsylvania lawmakers in June 2018, and signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf. This legislative action made Pennsylvania the largest state in the country to implement an automatic universal children's savings account program. Starting January 1, 2019, all babies born or adopted to a Pennsylvania family qualify for the $100 Keystone Scholars grant.

Retirement security

In 2017, Torsella created the bipartisan Treasury Task Force on Private Sector Retirement Security to find ways to help the more than two million Pennsylvanians who do not have access to employee-sponsored retirement plans. The task force was charged with investigating the scale of the retirement crisis, cataloging solutions being enacted in surrounding states, and presenting options to empower Pennsylvanians to save for their retirement.

In March 2019, Treasurer Torsella released the final report of the task force. It provides overviews of each hearing's testimonies, a breakdown of other states’ efforts to combat the retirement crisis, and final recommendations.

Unclaimed property

Treasurer Torsella increased efforts to return unclaimed property being held by Treasury—returning hundreds of millions of dollars since taking office. This includes $91,000 that was returned to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in a partnership with Good Morning America. CHOP donated the returned funds to its Violence Prevention Initiative that spearheads anti-bullying programs in schools.

The Pennsylvania Treasury Department holds billions of dollars in unclaimed property including dormant bank accounts, forgotten safe deposit boxes and uncashed checks. Treasury has a simple search tool to help as many Pennsylvanians as possible get back what is rightfully theirs.

Torsella initiated an effort to return unclaimed or abandoned military decorations to veterans and their families. Treasury's vault holds hundreds of military awards and medals, including Purple Hearts and Bronze Stars.

Torsella launched a dedicated database to search for lost military medals that may be held by Treasury for safekeeping.

Transparency portal

Torsella spearheaded the creation and launch of the state's first online tool to track state spending in real-time, the Transparency Portal. The Transparency Portal won national and global recognition.

The portal was launched in 2017 and made the General Fund balance available in real-time on the Treasury Department's homepage. Users also had access to monthly and annual expenditures, and the ability to see how any active lines of credit were affecting the General Fund.

The Transparency Portal was then relocated and expanded to its own website. The Treasury Department continuously works to further expand its capabilities. Taxpayers can use the tool to analyze state spending across all state departments and agencies.

Act 5

As part of Act 5 enacted by the Pennsylvania legislature in 2017, Torsella served as vice-chair of the Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission (PPMAIRC) in 2018. PPMAIRC was responsible for conducting the first-ever independent review of the state's largest pension funds including the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS).

Shareholder engagement

Torsella, as the overseer of all state investments, goes beyond his constitutional responsibility and urges companies the state invests in to operate in a socially responsible manner—including calling for changes to a company's corporate governance and practices that affect its role in major social or environmental issues.

Torsella has moved to hold drug manufacturers and distributors accountable for their role in the opioid epidemic. Torsella joined more than 40 institutional investors to form the Investors for Opioid Accountability Coalition. Together they filed 26 shareholder resolutions at 10 drug manufacturers and distributors calling for changes on issues connected to the opioid epidemic.

Post-Pennsylvania Treasurer activities

Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) Board

In February 2021, Torsella was appointed to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) Board of Trustees by Governor Tom Wolf. [72] The appointment is Torsella's first for the board but would result in his second time as a board member, after serving as an ex-officio member of both PSERS and the State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) during his four years as Pennsylvania State Treasurer. The appointment fills an open seat that is selected by the Governor, but the position must be confirmed by a majority of the Pennsylvania State Senate. In April 2021, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously voted to confirm Torsella's appointment to the PSERS Board of Trustees. [73]

Other endeavors

Torsella has served as a trustee or advisor to many civic and non-profit organizations, including the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Holocaust Awareness Museum; Historic Philadelphia, Inc.; the Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation; the Springside School; and the Knight Foundation. He has written widely on historical and contemporary issues, with some of his work published in the [null New York Times], [74] the Philadelphia Inquirer, the [null Cleveland Plain Dealer,] and the [null Miami Herald]. Torsella is a sought-after public speaker, and has appeared frequently in national broadcast media, including appearances on ABC's Nightly News, [75] Good Morning America and the Colbert Report. [76]

In 1994, Torsella developed the Spaghetti Smock, a linen bib for adults. [77]

In 2004, he founded a business consulting firm called 743 Ventures. [78]

Personal life

Torsella and his wife, Carolyn Short Torsella, live in Flourtown, Pennsylvania, and have four children.

See also

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References

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  26. ↑ http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2008/12/08/daily34.html?q=torsella%20resigns%20national%20constitution "Torsella to step down as Constitution Center chief"
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  28. ↑ "Pa. Primary Elections A Summary of Endorsements," Philadelphia Inquirer, April 25, 2004
  29. ↑ Davies, Dave, "Schwartz-Torsella a tough choice for Dems", Philadelphia Daily News, April 20, 2004; Davies, Dave, "Schwartz's winning recipe included Emily's dough," Philadelphia Daily News, June 1, 2004.
  30. ↑ Prichard, Oliver, "Schwartz, Brown will vie for Hoeffel seat; Schwartz's Democratic win was narrow. Melissa Brown coasted in GOP," Philadelphia Inquirer, April 28, 2004
  31. ↑ Associated Press, "Joe Torsella to Seek Democratic Nod for Senate" [ permanent dead link ], February 9, 2009.
  32. ↑ Fitzgerald, Thomas, "Torsella Drops Out of U.S. Senate Race", Philadelphia Inquirer, May 14, 2009.
  33. ↑ Hefling, Kimberly, "Joe Torsella, Specter's Democratic Opponent, Drops Out of Race", Huffington Post, May 14, 2009.
  34. ↑ LAKANA (2016-11-09). "Democrat Joe Torsella wins race for Pennsylvania treasurer". WFMZ. Retrieved 2016-11-10.
  35. ↑ "Joe Torsella for Pa. treasurer: His breadth of public service gives the edge". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2016-11-10.
  36. ↑ "Pennsylvania Governor Rendell Names Joseph Torsella State Board of Education Chairman", redOrbit.com, August 13, 2008.
  37. ↑ "Pennsylvania Education Board OKs New High-School Tests" Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine , TimesOnline.com, August 13, 2009; Murphy, Jan, "Pennsylvania Board of Education OKs Graduation Requirement Proposal", The Patriot-News, August 13, 2009.
  38. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of Education, Standards Aligned System, "Keystone Fact Sheet".
  39. ↑ Chute, Eleanor, "Graduation Exam Rule Expected to Pass", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , August 12, 2009.
  40. ↑ Barnes, Tom, "Pa. Senate approves legislation to prohibit high school exit exams", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 11, 2009.
  41. ↑ "Testing times: Compromise school exam deserves support", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 14, 2009; Chute, Eleanor, "Graduation exam compromise earning mixed grades", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 13, 2009; "Keystone Exam Compromise Receives Strong Bipartisan Support" Archived 2009-07-30 at the Wayback Machine , NewsTalkPA; "Keystone Exam Compromise Receives Strong Bipartisan Support" Archived 2010-11-28 at the Wayback Machine , Pennsylvania Senate Republican News, July 28, 2009.
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  43. ↑ Mezzacappa, Dale, "New Pa. graduation tests to kick in for class of 2015", The Notebook: An Independent Voice for Parents, Educators, Students and Friends of Philadelphia Public Schools, Vol. 17, No. 2, Fall 2009; "Diplomas that count" [ permanent dead link ], Philadelphia Inquirer, July 22, 2009.
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  49. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of Education, State Board of Education, "Common Core Standards – ELA".
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  70. ↑ Seidman, Andrew; Brennan, Chris (November 10, 2020). "Pa. Treasurer Joe Torsella has lost his reelection bid, in a big upset by Republican Stacy Garrity". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  71. ↑ Delano, Jon (2020-10-20). "Iraq War Veteran Stacy Garrity Challenging Incumbent State Treasurer Joe Torsella". CBS Pittsburgh. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
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Joe Torsella
Joe Torsella.jpg
75th Treasurer of Pennsylvania
In office
January 17, 2017 –January 19, 2021
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by
Robert Brasler
 Chair and Chief Executive of the National Constitution Center
1997–2003		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair and Chief Executive of the National Constitution Center
2006–2009		Succeeded by
Linda Johnson
Acting
Political offices
Preceded by
Karl Girton
 Secretary of Education of Pennsylvania
2008–2011		Succeeded by
Larry Wittig
Preceded by Treasurer of Pennsylvania
2017–2021		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to the United Nations for Management and Reform
2011–2014		Succeeded by
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