By Andrew Zuelke

In April 2018, voters rejected a statewide referendum to eliminate the office of State Treasurer (and Secretary of State). Four years later, not one duty was added back to this office out of respect for the voters’ decision. The main duty left is for Treasurer is being one of three members (along with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State) of the Bureau of Commissioners of Public Lands (bcpl.wisconsin.gov).

The legislators who gutted this office wouldn’t treat the Attorney General or the DPI Secretary posts that way. They wouldn’t transfer their duties to the Department of Administration and other agencies, then say, “Look at those do-nothing offices. Let’s get rid of them.” We have 99 Assemblymen. Would any of our legislators support eliminating 33 of their seats? I’ll bet not.

Since State Treasurer will be here for many years to come, and we are paying whomever is elected to it, why not make it productive? Like with every employer I’ve ever had, I’m given tasks to perform and they expect results.

There are only two reasons I can think of as to why legislators in Madison won’t strengthen this office.

1) They still want to eliminate it and adding duties back will make it more difficult for them to do that down the road.

2) They are upset the voters didn’t vote their way and are not adding duties out of spite. It is their way of saying, “Fine, voters. You can force us to keep this office and Secretary of State around but you can’t force us to do anything with them, so there.”

I hope Number 2# isn’t the reason. If it is, how petty and childish is that?

Like your parents, my parents instilled in me and my siblings a strong work ethic, that you work for your daily bread. The office of the State Treasurer pays $70 thousand plus a year. I work hard and steady for my current employer for half that much income.

I met my opponent, John Leiber, at the FreedomProject Academy in Appleton this September. Seems like a friendly guy. Two chapters of the John Birch Society (JBS) presented the documentary “Rigged: The Zuckerberg Funded Plot to Defeat Donald Trump.” It was very eye-opening and disturbing. I urge you to see it. Before that, the Treasurer candidates who attended were given time to speak to the crowd. Whereas I talked about adding duties back to the office, making it a watchdog, making it stronger, Leiber mentioned nothing he would work to restore if elected.

I went to his website. There he writes, “We need a Treasurer who will focus on the actual duties of the office, and not try to grow government. Rather than grow government and add new programs, I will carry out the duties of the Treasurer and advocate for saving your tax dollars.”

If he “focuses on the actual duties of the office” as it is now, that’s two meetings a month at the Bureau of Commissioners of Public Lands. Talk about a light workload. If he is elected and not me, what will he be doing for the rest of the month? Will “advocating for saving your tax dollars” consume that much time? If he’s elected, what about pressing his fellow Republicans to give him more responsibilities, moving back the Unclaimed Property Program, the Local Government Investment Pool, and the EdVest program? State Treasurer is not a bureaucracy; it’s an elected post.

Leiber later wrote, “We need a conservative administration in Wisconsin and 2022 can be the first time in decades we (Republicans) hold all 5 executive offices.” (Parenthesis added.)

So apparently, the Republican Party controlling all five statewide offices is more important to him than strengthening the State Treasurer’s post? I am a constitutionalist, so my getting elected will also foster a “conservative administration” in WI.

Go to wisconsintreasurerdefender.wordpress.com. I have done many updates. I’m the only candidate in this race who has run for this office before. Look specifically for the dates September 22, 2022, October 25, 2018, and September 24, 2018. There are letters to the editors and survey responses where I talk about the specific duties I will work to restore. There are things I will be doing in the meantime – working with others to rewrite the confusing state tax code, fighting against the immoral tax on private property, educating the public on new financial scams and fighting identity theft.

If I am elected, come January 2023 after I’m sworn in, should legislators say, “All right, Treasurer Andrew Zuelke, you want to preserve this office. Fine. We’re voting to add duties back and keep you busy. As the people’s representatives, we’re going to make you earn that salary.”

I wouldn’t have it any other way.