2017

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs today released the following statement after the U.S. Senate’s vote to pass House Joint Resolution 66. The passage of the resolution weakens protections for employers who choose to offer Illinois’ Secure Choice retirement savings plan to their workers. Frerichs championed Secure Choice as an Illinois senator and fought for stronger federal safe harbor protections as state treasurer. “Common sense was locked out of Congress today. Congress had a chance to help millions of Americans who lack retirement savings options. Congress had a chance…

CHICAGO — U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs today slammed congressional Republicans’ efforts to prohibit states from operating individual retirement accounts (IRAs). The Senate is poised to eliminate a Labor Department rule that allows states like Illinois to provide access to retirement savings accounts to millions of working American families. “This vote is an attack on working families—it will make it unnecessarily difficult for 1.5 million working Illinoisans without access to one of the only viable means they have to save for retirement. Already, tens…

SPRINGFIELD — A shift in investment strategy that embraced longer-term investments and higher yields allowed the state to more than double its investment income to $26 million in the first quarter of this year, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said today. The shift is possible after an analysis showed that core investment strategies could be more aggressive and still follow the office’s primary objective to ensure the safety of principal. “We had too many overnight investments that precluded us from earning higher rates,” Frerichs said. “We examined how money flows…

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs today announced a partnership with Econ Illinois to help improve financial literacy among Illinois students. The announcement was made during Money Smart Week at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago. “We are excited to partner with Econ Illinois to promote Illinois’ new financial education standards and help ensure students learn how to make smart financial choices at a young age,” Frerichs said. “As Illinois faces unprecedented fiscal challenges, it’s even more important than ever that our children are exposed to successful ways to manage…

SPRINGFIELD — Private companies that service college loans will profit at the expense of students because the Trump administration killed commonsense changes to reduce the default rate among college borrowers, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said today. “Let’s be clear about what President Trump’s changes mean. These service centers, when speaking with college graduates who want to work out a payment plan, will not have to tell the truth,” Frerichs said. “It will needlessly result in more college defaults for individuals and higher profits for corporations at the expense of…