Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball was appointed Chair of the Financial Education and Empowerment Committee for the National Association of State Treasurers, her office announced.
State Treasurer Allison Ball
“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead financial literacy efforts of state treasurers nationally,” Treasurer Ball said. “We have made great strides towards improving financial literacy in Kentucky and I look forward to working with my fellow state treasurers to achieve similar results across the country.”
The appointment follows Treasurer Ball’s recent announcement of her support of HB 139, which would create a Financial Literacy Commission. The Commission would be tasked with developing and implementing a plan for improving financial literacy for all Kentuckians and would operate at no cost to taxpayers thanks to Treasurer Ball’s work to secure private funding for the initiative from the Kentucky Credit Union League and Kentucky credit unions.
The Commission is the next step in Treasurer Ball’s plan to improve financial literacy in Kentucky. In 2017, Treasurer Ball was an outspoken advocate for HB 132, which made a financial literacy course or program a high school graduation requirement. In April of last year she also launched Kentucky’s Financial Empowerment Coalition and Database.
“The innovative programs Treasurer Ball has implemented in Kentucky to improve financial literacy make her a great fit to chair NAST’s Financial Education and Empowerment Committee,” Utah State Treasurer and NAST President David Damschen said. “State treasurers are uniquely positioned to impact the financial literacy of their constituents, and I am happy to have Treasurer Ball leading our efforts for greater financial literacy across the country.”
The National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) is a bipartisan group comprised of state treasurers and financial officers from across the United States, its commonwealths, territories, and the District of Columbia. During her time in Frankfort, Treasurer Ball has been known for her bipartisan leadership, including her success establishing STABLE Kentucky, a savings an investment program for Kentuckians with disabilities, improving the state’s national transparency ranking to within the top-10 nationally, and returning more unclaimed property than any state treasurer in a three-year period in Kentucky history.
National recognition among her peers is nothing new to Treasurer Ball. She also currently serves as the National Chair of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) and will bring state financial officers from across the country to Kentucky in April for the SFOF National Conference.
To learn more about Treasurer Ball’s work in Frankfort, visit www.treasury.ky.gov.
