MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Incumbent Democrat Mike Pieciak will face off against political newcomer and Republican Josh Bechhoefer in November.
Treasurer Mike Pieciak says he’s happy with his work as treasurer thus far, and hopes to expand on the foundation he’s made in his first two years.
Bechhoefer says he wants to approach the position more economically as he feels some opportunities are underutilized.
Vermont’s incumbent treasurer Mike Pieciak was born and raised in Brattleboro. Before running for treasurer two years ago, he held the top job at the Department of Financial Regulation since 2016.
Pieciak says he’s proud of the work he’s put into fixing the state’s housing crisis during his time as Treasurer. He says he set aside $100 million for investment in housing during his first term and ended up investing $70 million to support the creation of 1,100 units of housing.
“Those housing investments are critical. They’re critical to growing our economy, they’re critical to solving so many of the social issues that we’re facing as a state. It’s critical for rebuilding the middle class as well, more housing will bring down inflation, will help the economy, will help individual Vermonters as well,” said Pieciak.
Pieciak says he’s also been working on retirement security, saying the state pension funds are only getting stronger.
He also developed the VT Saves program, which he says will expand retirement savings opportunities to 80,000 workers. He hopes to get the program launched in his second term.
“What motivates me is how do we help the middle class, how we help average Vermonters, how do we invest in Vermonters as well, because we’ve made really good investments as it relates to the returns in our investments our investment in our communities, but making sure we invest directly in Vermonters is important as well,” said Pieciak.
Political newcomer Republican Josh Bechhoefer says he wants to focus on opportunities in the treasury that he says are not being utilized.
Bechhoefer grew up in Addison County and received a degree in economics from UVM. He currently works as a credit analyst at Farm Credit East. He says he disagrees with Pieciak’s focus on housing and thinks the money isn’t being utilized in the best way. “I haven’t seen any cost-benefit analysis, neither has the state of Vermont, he’s doing what’s politically popular,” he said.
He says saving entire areas of land instead of investing in individual units could provide more long-term benefits. If elected, he also wants to propose a state bank.
“That keeps the capitol in the state because they’re able to participate in loans amongst small banks. I think that would be great for Vermont,” said Bechhoever.
Election day is November 8th. You can vote by mail ahead of time or in-person at the polls on the day.