Republican Brad Briner, candidate for NC treasurer, answers our questions
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Candidates for North Carolina state treasurer
Republican Brad Briner is running against Democrat Wesley Harris. Get to know the candidates with our 2024 NC Voter Guide.
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To help inform voters about the Nov. 5, 2024, election, this candidate questionnaire is available to be republished by local publications in North Carolina without any cost. Please consider subscribing to The News & Observer to help make this coverage possible.
Name: Brad Briner
Political party: Republican
Age as of Nov. 5, 2024: 47
Campaign website: www.bradbriner.com
Current occupation: Retired
Professional experience: 25 years managing investments for large institutions like UNC and Bloomberg Philanthropies
Education: BA (Morehead Scholar) from UNC-Chapel Hill, MBA from Harvard University
Please list any notable government or civic involvement. I have been an adviser to the State Treasurer of North Carolina through my role on the Debt Affordability Advisory Committee for over a decade. In addition, I serve on the Board of Trustees for UNC-Chapel Hill and on the Board of Trustees and as Chair of the Investment Committee for Phillips Exeter Academy.
What would be your top priority if elected?
The top priority of the next treasurer must be to address the chronic underperformance of the NC Retirement System. This underperformance has cost our taxpayers billions of dollars — it is time for the assets of the pension plan to work as hard for our state employees as those employees do for our state. Fixing this underperformance will not be easy; it requires much more than reducing excess cash in the portfolio. We must have a treasurer with deep investment experience to address this problem.
What percentage raises should your state agency’s employees receive in the next state budget?
I see no reason why the Department of State Treasurer employees should receive a materially different aggregate raise than other state employees in the next budget.
Will you attend all Council of State meetings?
Yes.
How will you work with the other nine members of the council, including the governor?
In addition to attending Council of State and other board meetings, and the general areas of overlap that manifest from those, there are many areas of specific collaboration across the Council of State. Three examples of those:
▪ With the State Auditor — working to expand availability of auditors to smaller communities in our state so that they can benefit from timely audits and access to debt.
▪ With the Attorney General — combating financial fraud, particularly among our seniors.
▪ With the Superintendent of Public Instruction — enhancing available financial education options in our high schools.
What steps will you take to make sure the State Health Plan remains solvent and what changes, if any, will you make to retiree benefits considering the state’s retiree benefit liability?
There are many steps necessary to insure solvency for the SHP. In the short term, we need to re-negotiate the PBM contract to a cost-plus model, and to either complete or abandon the Clear Pricing Plan — a worthy initiative but without an ability to compel participation it raises costs. In the long term, the SHP needs to adopt an accountable care model. SHP members, working with their doctors, will be able to choose higher quality providers, at lower expense, in the future.
The State Health Plan this year ended coverage of Wegovy, Saxenda and Zepbound, weight-loss drugs that were heavily used by state employees on the plan. Will you reinstate coverage of these drugs? What’s your strategy to keep drugs covered and costs low?
The SHP needs to reinstate coverage of these drugs as they clearly provide long-term material benefit to our employees. We will negotiate with the providers to lower cost and empower SHP discretion, in exchange for being the exclusive provider for an extended term. I was encouraged to see Eli Lilly materially reduced the retail price for Zepbound in late August, which should portend well for the SHP’s negotiations.
What changes will you make to how the state’s pension plan is managed? Will you shift investments from cash to stock?
The State Pension needs to make 6.5% per year – this will allow us to fulfill our promises to those who have served our state without asking too much from our state budget. Our strategy should be to take as little risk as possible while still expecting this level of return. We do not need to add more stock exposure — but we should invest the cash into the mortgage market to improve our expected return. Our next treasurer must have a specific plan to improve performance; only one of us does.
Is there an issue on which you disagree with your party? What is your position on that issue?
I still worry about the federal deficit and would like to see a larger focus than the party currently has on getting our fiscal house in order. That said, the Republican position here is vastly superior to the fiscal blowout that has come from Democratic administrations.
This story was originally published September 25, 2024 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Republican Brad Briner, candidate for NC treasurer, answers our questions."
