Barry County native transitions to state auditor post
Former Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, now officially sworn in as the state auditor, has reflected on his accomplishments from his four years as State Treasurer.
One of the youngest to hold an elected state office, Fitzpatrick was appointed to the treasurer position in 2018, following former treasurer Eric Schmitt’s appointment to attorney general due to Josh Hawley’s election to the senate.
In 2020, Fitzpatrick became the first from Barry County to win a statewide election, garnering 59.1 percent of the vote in a four-person race.
In a press release from his former office, Fitzpatrick noted a number of his accomplishments, from investments to returns and transparency.
“As Treasurer, I have worked to protect Missouri’s tax dollars, help Missourians save for the future, and increase government transparency at the state and local level,” Fitzpatrick said. “My office found innovative ways to increase awareness and productivity and returned record-breaking amounts of Unclaimed Property to rightful owners. We also worked to make programs like MOST 529 and MO ABLE as cost effective for participants as possible, and gave over 1,300 Missouri children the opportunity to attend the school of their choice through the launch of the MOScholars scholarship program.
“It has been an honor to serve as Missouri’s State Treasurer and I am grateful for my time in this Office. I look forward to continuing to serve Missourians as State Auditor.”
As the state’s Chief Financial Officer, Fitzpatrick was responsible for the management and investment of state funds. The state’s investment portfolio surpassed $17 billion for the first time in Missouri history this year — up from $3.6 billion when Fitzpatrick took office. The investment decisions made under his leadership have placed the State in a position to earn record returns for taxpayers this fiscal year while rebranding and reforming the state’s loan program for Missouri farmers and small business owners – MOBUCK$.
Missouri continues to maintain its AAA bond rating, the highest rating issued by Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch Ratings, one of the few states with the distinction of a triple-triple A credit rating.
Over Fitzpatrick’s fouryear tenure, the Banking Division processed more than 20 million payments, including more than five million checks and more than 15 million ACH transactions.
The Treasurer’s Office broke numerous records during Fitzpatrick’s service, including: returning the first $1 million of his administration in less than 10 days, returning Unclaimed Property to more Missourians in one year than any prior treasurer, returning $100 million to Missourians faster than any prior treasurer, returning $50 million in one fiscal year (breaking his own record for most money returned in one year), earning more money for account owners at an auction than any prior Treasurer.
His administration has also returned more unclaimed property in a four-year term than any other Treasurer and replaced more outlawed checks for taxpayers than any Treasurer in history.
Fitzpatrick was also honored to return a Bronze Star to the family of the recipient who did not know their father had earned the medal. It was found in a safe deposit box and held in unclaimed property for nearly 10 years before being returned.
Fitzpatrick remains committed to improving inter-agency relationships, the release from his office said. In 2020, he partnered with the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to return unclaimed property to those who have applied for unemployment benefits. This partnership has returned over $8.8 million to nearly 30,000 Missourians. In 2019, he announced a new partnership with the Department of Social Services that created an automated system to match past-due child support cases with the Unclaimed Property database. This partnership has returned nearly $4.5 million to Missouri families.
Fitzpatrick said he made helping Missouri families save for the future a priority. MOST, Missouri’s 529 Education Plan remains one of the highest rated plans in the country, earning a silver rating from research firm Morningstar for the third straight year. MO ABLE, Missouri’s savings and investment plan for individuals with disabilities is one of the largest ABLE plans in the country with over 3,500 accounts and $26 million in assets under management. Under Treasurer Fitzpatrick’s leadership, the number of accounts nearly quadrupled, with assets under management growing by over 800 percent.
Thanks to Treasurer Fitzpatrick’s efforts, Missouri’s first K-12 scholarship program launched. Passed by the legislature in 2021, MOScholars provides state tax credits for contributions that provide scholarships to Missouri students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and students living in low-income households.
As part of the launch, the Treasurer’s Office created an innovative tax credit reservation system which is the first of its kind, and can be expanded to other state tax credit programs to save taxpayer money and increase efficiency. In its first year, the program has provided scholarships to more than 1,300 students across the state to attend schools of their choice.
A proponent of increasing government transparency, Fitzpatrick has worked to expand access to expenditure data, growing the Show-Me Checkbook, one of the most comprehensive state financial data portals in the country, to include local governments. Currently, more than 30 local governments are participating representing over half of the population of Missouri.
Fitzpatrick also worked with the Missouri Housing Development Commission to improve transparency and efficiency within the low-income housing tax credit program. Reforms include a scoring rubric which enables comparison of approved and unapproved projects, points awarded to projects for saving taxpayers money, and an accelerated redemption pilot program. His efforts have resulted in higher value for tax credits , which translates to more affordable housing for less taxpayer money.
In his role as a Trustee for the Missouri State Employee Retirement System (MOSERS), Fitzpatrick led the charge to divest from Russia, making MOSERS one of the first pension systems in the country to do so. He also pushed back against Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing strategies, changing MOSERS policy to put corporate voting power back in the hands of Missourians, and divesting approximately $500 million from woke ESG powerhouse Blackrock Inc.
Fitzpatrick was sworn in on Jan. 9 as the state auditor, replacing Nicole Galloway, who chose not to seek the auditor post in 2022.
In the November election, Fitzpatrick again capture about 60 percent of the vote in a three-man contest. The victory gave the GOP full control of all six state-wide elected offices.
Following his swearing- in, Fitzpatrick said school district and federal COVID stimulus money spending would be focuses of his administration.
