Alexi Giannoulias
| Alexi Giannoulias | |
 | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 8, 2007 | |
| Governor | Rod Blagojevich Pat Quinn |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Judy Baar Topinka |
| Born | March 16, 1976 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Tulane University Law School (J.D.) Boston University (B.A.) |
Alexi Giannoulias (pronounced /əˈlɛxi dʒəˈnuːli.əs/; born March 16, 1976) is the Illinois State Treasurer. A Democrat, Giannoulias defeated Republican candidate State Senator Christine Radogno in November 2006 with 54 percent of the vote, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office in 12 years and, at the age of 30, the youngest State Treasurer in the nation.[1] He is currently the Democratic candidate to replace U.S. Senator Roland Burris, who has chosen not to seek election to the United States Senate.
On July 26, 2009, Giannoulias announced his candidacy in the 2010 election for the seat in the United States Senate currently held by Roland Burris. Burris, who was appointed by Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill the seat vacated by Barack Obama following his election as President of the United States, has chosen not to seek election. Giannoulias won the Democratic primary on February 2, 2010, and will face Republican Mark Kirk in the general election.
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Biography
Giannoulias, an American politician of Greek descent, was raised in Chicago, where he played basketball at The Latin School of Chicago.[2] He enrolled at the University of Chicago before transferring to Boston University, where he played Division I basketball. Giannoulias was named to the America East Conference Academic Honor Roll each of the two years he played and graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He then moved to Greece to play basketball in Panionios B.C. Greece for a year (1998–99).[citation needed] After returning, he enrolled at the Tulane University Law School.
Upon earning his law degree, Alexi returned to Chicago to help manage Broadway Bank, a community bank in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood that his family owns.
Giannoulias served on the board of directors of the Community Banker’s Association of Illinois Legislative Committee, the South Side/Wabash YMCA, and the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce. Giannoulias also founded and chairs the AG Foundation, a not-for-profit charity that donates money to treat child-related illnesses, curb poverty and assist disaster relief organizations.[1]
On March 2, 2009, Giannoulias stated on CNBC that he was forming an exploratory committee in order to assess a potential candidacy for the US Senate in 2010. On July 26, 2009, he officially announced his candidacy for the United States Senate at the Hilton Chicago, the same place then-Senator Barack Obama endorsed Giannoulias for State Treasurer in 2006. He was introduced to the crowd by Congressman Bill Foster.
Actions in Office
As Treasurer, Giannoulias "signed his own executive order to enact the most comprehensive, widest-ranging ethics package of any elected official in the state. The order prohibits him from accepting contributions from banks, Treasurer’s Office employees and contractors who do business with the office."[3] He also moved to foreclose on two debt-ridden hotels built in the 1980s by politically connected insiders in Springfield and Collinsville.[4][5]
Giannoulias launched the "Green Rewards" program, which gives a $1,000 rebate to Illinois residents who purchase a new hybrid or other fuel-efficient vehicle.[6]
Giannoulias started a pilot program in 2007 to sell the abandoned contents of safe deposit boxes on eBay, scrapping the state's annual live auctions.[7]
In January 2009, the state of Illinois purchased $10 million worth of Israel Bonds. Giannoulias stated that "This is a good way to safely diversify our portfolio, especially during a time when some of our other investment options aren't generating as much revenue because of the market fluctuations here in the United States." [8] Giannoulias stated that the Israel Bonds will mature in three years with a 2.43 percent rate of return, compared to U.S. government bonds yielding a 1.51 percent return during the same period.[9]
Bright Start
As Illinois Treasurer, Giannoulias is responsible for overseeing the Illinois' Bright Start college saving program. Bright Start "allows families to invest money for their children’s college educations."[10] The program lets accountholders "split their money among many investment options."[10] Before Giannoulias took office, SavingForCollege.com ranked Bright Start 47th out of 48 in the nation.[10] Giannoulias reformed the program,[11] and Bright Start went from being one of the worst programs in the country to one of the best. Morningstar called the transformation “a Cinderella story.”[12]
In 2008, one of the twenty-one funds in Bright Start called Core Plus began experiencing excessive losses. As the Associated Press reported, "It turns out the Oppenheimer team handling Core Plus — a team the company has now fired — was putting money into risky, complicated investments that tanked in 2008 amid the general financial meltdown."[13] In 2009, Oregon,[14] Nebraska,[15] New Mexico,[16] Texas,[16] Maine[16] and Illinois[16] all investigated OppenheimerFunds’ handling of the their college savings programs for impermissible investments and misconduct.
In January 2009, the Illinois Attorney General initiated its own probe of OppenheimerFunds, issuing subpoenas on the company.[17] According to the Associated Press, Illinois was the first state to take action.[10] At the time, the losses attributable to OppenheimerFunds' impermissible investments were estimated to be "in excess of $85 million."[17]
Despite the problem associated with OppenheimerFunds' handling of Core Plus, Bright Start remains a highly-regarded 529 college savings program. In April 2009, Consumer Reports studied college savings programs across the country “to see how well they performed during last year’s stock-market plunge.”[18] Consumer Reports “found five that are worthy of an A,” and ranked Bright Start as one of the top five college savings programs in the nation.[18] In April 2009, Money Magazine selected Bright Start as one the “best low-risk 529 plans.”[19] In December 2009, Kiplinger’s selected Bright Start as one of the best state 529 plans in the country, choosing it as the best plan for “low fees.”[20] Morningstar, which had previously ranked Bright Start in its top 5 in 2008, has acknowledged the issues relating to Core Plus but, citing Illinois’ swift action in dealing with the issue, reported in 2009 that “the plan still holds plenty of appeal.”[21]
In December 2009, the Illinois Attorney General's Office and the Office of the State Treasurer announced that Illinois had reached a settlement with OppenheimerFunds.[22] Eligible accountholders who lost money in Core Plus would receive $77 million from OppenheimerFunds. As the scope of the settlement was expanded during negotiations with OppenheimerFunds to include more accountholders, the total loss addressed by the settlement is $150 million.[23]
The Treasurer's Office used some of the investment fees from the Bright Start program to purchase a hybrid vehicle to "so Bright Start staff have a way to travel the state and sign families up for the program" and used to promote other Treasurer's Office programs.[24] The vehicle was never used for personal use by Giannoulias.[24]
Senate Campaign
Giannoulias was elected the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Illinois in the February 2, 2010 primary, with 39.0% of the vote. David H. Hoffman received 33.8% and Cheryle Jackson received 19.7%.[25]
During the primary election, some of Giannoulias' opponents and the Illinois Republican Party attempted to claim that Broadway Bank, Giannoulias' former employer (founded by his late father), "bankrolled Tony Rezko."[23] Rezko is a political fundraiser convicted in federal court of money laundering and fraud.[23] Rezko received loans from Broadway Bank, as well as several other Illinois banks.[23] Giannoulias did not make the loans.[26] Broadway Bank later declared Rezko to be in default.[27] Additionally, Rezko is "accused of writing nine bad checks totaling nearly $450,000 in Las Vegas from a checking account he held at Broadway."[23] The bank refused to cover the checks.[23] Giannoulias has not received any campaign contributions from Rezko.[28]
Giannoulias was endorsed by Planned Parenthood, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AFSCME, the AFL-CIO, and the Sierra Club.[29] He was also endorsed by U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Luis Gutierrez, Michael Quigley, Bill Foster and Phil Hare.
See also
References
 | This article uses bare URLs. Please help improve this article by turning bare URLs into proper citations containing all of the information on the referenced work's title, date, publisher, publication, and author, so that the article remains verifiable in the future. This page may also be able to help find problematic links. Several templates are available for formatting. (February 2010) |
- ^ a b Meet Treasurer Giannoulias, Official Website, http://www.treasurer.il.gov/about-us/meet-treasurer-giannoulias.aspx
- ^ Obama's basketball pal for governor? December 8, 2008, Chicago Suntimes
- ^ http://www.google.com/search?q=giannoulis+ethics+order+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
- ^ Suhr, Jim. St. Louis hotel scheduled for judicial sale. Associated Press. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2007-09-26-hotel-foreclosure_N.htm 9/26/2007
- ^ Mendell, David. State ready to close books on debt-plagued hotel. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/jan/16/business/chi-badhoteloan_16jan16 January 16, 2008.
- ^ State offers $1,000 rebate to hybrid-vehicle buyers. Chicago Tribune. Metro pg. 3, Jul 16, 2007
- ^ Eckinger, Helen. State plans ‘virtual yard sale’ of unclaimed property. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2007/aug/14/news/chi-auction14aug14 August 14, 2007
- ^ State Purchases $10 million in Israel Bonds January 28, 2009, Illinois Treasury Press Release.
- ^ Illinois makes major Israel Bonds purchase by Eric Fingerhut, January 28, 2009.
- ^ a b c d http://www.galesburg.com/news/x1689200066/Fact-Check-Giannoulias-faces-trouble-over-Bright-Start
- ^ http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_0f3d3ccc-0fa7-5416-85bc-4ef6be701be0.html
- ^ http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=234422
- ^ http://www.galesburg.com/news/x1689200066/Fact-Check-Giannoulias-faces-trouble-over-Bright-StartInsert footnote text here
- ^ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123966488425515111.html
- ^ http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=10536294&nav=menu605_2
- ^ a b c d http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/04/08/oppenheimerfunds_under_scrutiny/
- ^ a b http://www.treasurer.il.gov/news/press-releases/2009/PR26January2009.htm
- ^ a b http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/personal-investing/college-savings-plans/overview/college-savings-plans.htm
- ^ http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/moneymag/0904/gallery.Money100_529_plans.moneymag/
- ^ http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2009-best-list-college.html
- ^ http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=287783
- ^ http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/pressroom/2009_12/Bright_Start_Settlement_Final.pdf
- ^ a b c d e f http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-6860-the-man-who-would-be-senator.html
- ^ a b http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/05/treasurer-defends-suv-purchase-from-college-savings-program.html
- ^ Results Chicago Tribune, February 3, 2010
- ^ http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/1884123,CST-NWS-sweet15.article
- ^ http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/elections/chi-giannoulias-profile-14jan15,0,3653104.story
- ^ http://www.wgil.com/localnews.php?xnewsaction=fullnews&newsarch=012010&newsid=164
- ^ http://alexiforillinois.com/about/endorsements
External links
- Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias official state site
- Alexi for Illinois official campaign site
- Follow the Money - Alexi Giannoulias 2006 campaign contributions
- Alexi Giannoulias at Project Vote Smart
- Obama backs young candidate for state treasurer
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Judy Baar Topinka | Treasurer of Illinois since January 8, 2007 | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Barack Obama | Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Senator from Illinois (Class 3) | Most recent |
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