PA Treasury Stacy Garrity Announces New Deputy Treasurer Treasurer Stacy Garrity today announced a key addition to her administration, naming Steve Chizmar as Deputy Treasurer for Communications. “Steve’s extensive knowledge and experience as a veteran communications professional will serve our team at Treasury well,” said Treasurer Garrity. “Over the course of his career, he has developed a reputation for seeking meaningful progress and smarter public service. I’m excited to have someone with such dedication fill a valuable role here at Treasury to help us best communicate with the Pennsylvanians we serve every day.” “I’m honored to join Treasurer Garrity’s team,” Chizmar said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Pennsylvania and contribute to the important work of the Treasury Department. I look forward to helping advance Treasurer Garrity’s vision for fiscal responsibility, transparency and innovation in state government.” Prior to joining Treasury, Steve spent 30 years as a Commonwealth employee having held various communications roles at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) including Community Relations Coordinator, Deputy Press Secretary and Press Secretary. He also worked in the office of Governor Tom Corbett as a Deputy Director of Communications. While serving in the Corbett Administration, he worked on key legislative initiatives that helped shape Pennsylvania’s transportation policy landscape. Most recently, Chizmar worked at PennDOT where he led a bureau dedicated to driving internal efficiencies and elevating employee engagement. Under his leadership, the team launched initiatives that encouraged staff innovation and generated cost-saving improvements across the department.
Treasurer Stacy Garrity Commends General Assembly and Governor Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity today praised the General Assembly and the Governor for adding about $740 million to the state’s Rainy Day Fund as part of the state budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25 – bringing the state’s reserve fund to a record high, nearly $7 billion. “Building Pennsylvania’s Rainy Day Fund strengthens our fiscal outlook as we prepare for the future,” Treasurer Garrity said. “When I took office, we had one of the worst reserve funds in the country – the Rainy Day Fund was so small that it would barely cover the Commonwealth’s bills for two days. Now, thanks to four consecutive years of strong savings, we’re well above the national median. A big part of responsible budgeting is setting money aside when you can, and I strongly support this smart decision by the General Assembly and the Governor.” The balance of the state’s reserve fund, currently $6.25 billion, will increase to approximately $6.987 billion when the deposit is made. That’s enough money to run the Commonwealth for 53.6 days. According to The Pew Charitable Trusts, the national median is 46.0 days. In November, Treasurer Garrity announced that the Treasury Department created a new investment pool dedicated exclusively to the Rainy-Day Fund. The new pool is creating greater investment returns for the fund while maintaining necessary liquidity. The Rainy Day Fund, formally known as the Budget Stabilization Reserve Fund, provides a fiscal safety net for possible economic downturns to help prevent tax hikes and cuts to discretionary programs. Building and maintaining the Rainy-Day Fund are integral to responsible state budgeting. Moody’s emphasized the need for a strong Rainy-Day Fund in its September 2023 Rating Action which upgraded Pennsylvania’s outlook from stable to positive and affirmed our state’s Aa3 rating: “Maintenance of adequate reserves is particularly important in Pennsylvania given a history of protracted budget negotiations, as well as demographic weaknesses that could have negative implications for long-term job growth, overall economic performance and state revenue.”
