Should the Kansas state treasurer's office be a political springboard? Candidates weigh in.

Candidates vying for state treasurer said they would not use the office as a springboard to further their political futures and faced off on whether the office's powers should be further expanded in the lone debate in the race Tuesday.

The debate, hosted by KTWU and the Washburn University political science department, came as voters will decide whether to give incumbent Democrat treasurer Lynn Rogers a full term after he was appointed to replace U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner in 2020, after LaTurner was elected to Congress.

Challenging him is state Rep. Steven Johnson, R-Assaria, the Republican nominee after a closely fought primary, and former Kansas State Board of Education member Steve Roberts, the Libertarian candidate.

The treasurer's office manages a range of state offices and initiatives, ranging from the unclaimed property program to overseeing the state's 529 college savings account program, is the custodian of cash deposits and bonds and has a vote on the Pooled Money Investment Board and state pension fund board.

Will state treasurer candidates commit to serving a full term?

Over the last 50 years, treasurers routinely have used the office and its significant public platform as a springboard to higher office, with LaTurner the latest in a string of former treasurers to depart in the middle of a term.

All three candidates said they were not interested in following suit and seeking a higher office, arguing their skillsets were a good fit for the treasurer's office and that they were committed to the work of the office.

Rogers said neglect from past officeholders had led to antiquated banking systems that hindered its work.

A former banker, Wichita school board member and state senator, Rogers served as lieutenant governor before becoming treasurer. He said he has already streamlined functions and increased uptake of the 529 savings program.

"When I arrived in the office, I really discovered an office that had been really emptied out, with many things that hadn't been done because there was more of a focus on running for Congress," he said, adding he would not be running for Congress and "there wasn't any plan at this point in time" to seek another statewide office.

Johnson, chair of the House Insurance and Pensions Committee and a former worker for Ameriprise Financial, pointed to his work on turning around the state's pension fund, which has regained stability after years of underfunding in the 1990s and 2000s.

He has advocated for a strictly dollars and sense approach to the managing the office and has said he would steer clear of investments in potentially volatile foreign markets.

Congress, he added, was not in his future either, as he "planned to run for re-election as treasurer in four years."

"Right now, we have some specific needs where we need to make sure we are asking the questions about how assets are invested," Johnson said. "That is what I want to focus on. I think it will go for more than four years to make sure we keep portfolios balanced."

The three candidates also vowed they would not appear in television ads to promote the 529 savings accounts, one of the tools that has been used to promote both the program designed to help families save for college tax-free — and also to boost the treasurer's political fortunes.

While the treasurer does not directly play a role in education policy, Roberts has said he would seek to work with legislators and the board of education on school funding and curriculum issues.

But he said he would prefer to eliminate the 529 savings account program altogether, as it "is not a function of state government."

"As a libertarian, I would say we don't really need this," he said. "If you’re a good little saver, you're a good little saver and you save up for college."

Candidates open to granting treasurer's office powerful auditing function

Many states have a position dedicated to auditing the finances and affairs of state agencies. But Kansas has lacked such a position since it was eliminated in the 1970s.

Johnson's primary opponent, Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, proposed restoring those powers to the state treasurer as a way of ensuring transparency and fighting waste, fraud and abuse of state resources.

All three candidates said they were open to such a proposal, though none appeared overly enthusiastic about the idea.

Rogers noted such a move could cost several millions of dollars and require annual state appropriations, as well as legislative authorization. The Legislature already has a non-partisan auditing arm that fulfills many of the same functions, the office of Legislative Post Audit.

"In the past it has been tried but I’m not sure it has gone that far with the Legislature," Rogers said.

Johnson said he would be open to the idea, provided the audits were actually used to implement change. It may be more prudent, he added, to work the Legislature collaboratively on such probes.

"If we create audits that remain on a shelf rather than be actively used by a legislative team, that doesn’t add much value," he said.

The idea, Roberts said, would need careful review and he was not yet sure whether it would be a good idea to pursue in Kansas.

"It probably would not be prudent to rush into that," he said.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Three Kansas treasurer candidates lay out arguments for voters