League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund
State of Ohio November 2, 2010 Election
	Kevin L. Boyce Answers Questions Candidate for Treasurer of State; State of Ohio

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Ohio and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What additional safeguards will you put in place to protect public investments? What are your investment strategies that would safely maximize the rate of return?

After becoming Treasurer, I made tough choices to protect Ohio`s tax dollars while growing our revenue. First, I directed my administration to use private sector best practices that have earned $300 million in new investment income for Ohio. Second, I created a historic competitive bidding process for banking contracts that saved Ohioans $19 million. Third, I focused on cost savings, reducing Treasury expenses by 10.6% and taking two voluntary pay cuts myself. Because of this sound financial management, the Ohio Treasury has not lost a single dime to bad 18 investments in the worst economic times since the Great Depression.

2. What would be your investment policy—to invest at a higher rate outside Ohio, or to support Ohio businesses, even though the return might be lower? Please explain.

I invest in Ohio every day as Treasurer, helping to create and retain over 55,000 Ohio jobs. The Ohio Revised Code provides discretion to invest up to 12% of our portfolio in Ohio through linked deposit programs, while the remaining 88% of our portfolio is invested almost exclusively in US government obligations. Using my authority, my GrowNOW staff work with banks across Ohio to help businesses get a better rate on their loans, investing almost $200 million in less than two years. We`ve allocated over $200 million for Ohio family farms through AgLINK, a program that helps farmers with loans for their operating needs. We even empower residential homeowners to go green by making home energy efficiency updates more affordable with EcoLINK.

3. What criteria would you use to select among equally qualified investment vehicles?

Challenges with toxic assets like Lehman Brothers should serve as a warning for all public servants. The second criteria would be the liquidity of the assets. Finally, we must ensure that, within the bounds of prudent fiscal management, we are maximizing the rate of return for Ohioans. For 12% of our portfolio that may be invested in Ohio via link deposit authority, our foremost criterion remains safety of the public assets. Second, we look for the ability of the farmer, small business or, in the case of EcoLINK, household, to support the creation and retention of Ohio jobs. Finally, we continue to look for opportunities to grow our link deposit programs to serve even more Ohioans.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Word limits apply for each question. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 24, 2010 18:09
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