State Treasurer Candidates Call for Responsible State Spending

Candidates for state treasurer Republican John S. Leiber, left, and Democrat Yee Leng Xiong. Photos courtesy of the candidates

While the office of state treasurer has lost much of its power, one of the few tasks left is “improving fiscal responsibility” in Wisconsin.

The candidates running for the office this November have differing views on what that looks like in practice and what they hope to accomplish if elected.

Incumbent John Leiber, a Republican, said he has focused on keeping the office small over the last four years, adding that it’s the smallest state treasurer’s office in the country.

“I’m not attempting to try to take on new duties or responsibilities,” Leiber said. “I want to focus on what the actual duties are now, rather than trying to delve into issues the state treasurer’s office has nothing to do with.”

Before taking office in 2023, Leiber worked as a tax adviser for the state Department of Revenue and a private attorney in real estate and wills. In 2018, he ran for state Assembly in District 62, but lost the Republican primary.

Democrat Yee Leng Xiong believes the office should act as an “independent fiscal watchdog,” ensuring there is no “waste and fraud” in state spending and showing taxpayers how their dollars are being spent.

“Being able to make sure that we’re looking at new revenues, making sure that what we’re doing is working, and also ensuring that we’re holding the state of Wisconsin accountable and money is not being (wasted) or going to places where it shouldn’t be,” Xiong said.

In the 2024 election, Xiong challenged Republican state Rep. Patrick Snyder in the 85th Assembly District. The son of Hmong refugees, Xiong led the Hmong American Center in Wausau for eight years and currently serves on the Marathon County Board and the D.C. Everest Area School Board. If Xiong wins, he would be the first Hmong American in the nation to be elected to statewide office.

The state treasurer is one of three Wisconsin elected officials who manage the state’s Common School Fund and other trust funds for education. The Common School Fund supports libraries in public K-12 schools and distributed $73.5 million last year.

Xiong said schools districts, along with public libraries and local governments, are being asked to “do more with less income.” He would like to see the treasurer’s office lead the charge on exploring ways to generate new revenue and rethink the way the state is spending existing dollars.

“Many (schools) are going back to referendums. We’re seeing our local municipalities and governments struggling to pave roads or buy essential equipments,” Xiong said. “The state treasurer, as all of government should be doing, should be working to make sure that the cost of living is lowered.”

But Leiber said the state needs to start investing in the Common School Fund now, rather than wait for the perfect situation. He pointed to the large legal settlements Wisconsin has recently received from drug manufacturers and companies like Meta as a potential source of new funds. He said “rather than spend it, I’d rather invest it.”

Leiber pointed out that the office has been marked by turnover for two decades, with voters electing a new state treasurer every four years since 2006. He said the treasurer’s work would benefit from more consistency.

“It’s hard to build connections with legislators and other officials when they think you’re not going to be there that long,” Leiber said.

But Xiong argued that the state treasurer should be doing everything they can to lower costs and improve the quality of life for residents.

“We’re doing a disservice to the state of Wisconsin by doing the bare minimum,” he said.

The Wisconsin Legislature removed most of the job duties of the state treasurer under both Republican and Democratic governors. In 2018, voters roundly rejected a push for a constitutional amendment that would have eliminated the office.

State treasurer candidates call for responsible state spending — but differ on what that means was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.