By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas State Treasurer Democrat Lynn Rogers was appointed to the position by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and he wants the job permanently.
"When we got here, the people told us the legislature would kind of leave us alone, but we had a very busy year with them," Rogers said. "They created a emergency loan program, for over 80 cities. We helped keep the lights on, we implemented a loan program within 24 hours of the bill passing to make sure that cities could meet their natural gas bills. We've done an economic recovery loan. We've just been very, very busy."
Also, it's been a challenge to keep the money flowing down from the federal level to the cities and counties that need it during the pandemic.
"The federal money that just came in for the COVID relief, we got almost $871 million," Rogers said. "One of the jobs of the treasurer is to make sure it's all collateralized or insured. We worked for almost a month before that money came to ensure that we had with the bankers, enough collateral to protect us in case something happened."
There's still more work that the office can do for Kansans, with legislative approval.
"Fifty-five percent of Americans don't have a retirement account," Rogers said. "The reason is that they can't contribute through payroll deduction. That's the best way, research shows, that people save. We would like to do kind of a work and save IRA account, similar to what other state's treasurers have done. It really allows people to have some dignity, some assets in their retirement years. It also reduces the amount of need of state services for those people when they can take care of themselves. We'd like to see that implemented."
There are at least two Republican candidates that will vie for the post in a primary before facing Rogers in November 2022. The last three Republicans to serve in that post left it for Congress.