Republicans are the majority of primary sponsors for both the bill backed by Cowell and the union-supported disclosure bill she opposes. Only the treasurer’s bill is moving forward so far. Governor Pat McCrory, a Republican, doesn’t comment on pending legislation, said Rick Martinez, a spokesman.
The five-year period of secrecy the treasurer supports would mean the statute of limitations for securities fraud claims would expire before documents are made public, said the employees association’s general counsel, Tom Harris.
“This bill is bad,” Ardis Watkins, a lobbyist for the association said at a committee hearing June 18. “It’s going to enshrine bad practices. For a generation it’s going to keep the public from knowing what they have a right know.”
Sole Authority
North Carolina, New York, Connecticut and Michigan are the only states that have a single person overseeing their pensions, and Cowell has close ties with the financial services industry. She has taken campaign contributions from some companies that have won contracts to manage alternative investments.
Of the $1.1 million Cowell received for her 2012 campaign, $196,710 came from the financial industry, according to the National Institute on Monday in State Politics in Helena, Montana. People in New York City donated $133,300, more than came from Charlotte, North Carolina’s biggest city.
Cowell’s spokesman, Schorr Johnson, said the pension has grown 45 percent under Cowell and that she is committed to protecting its integrity.
“The performance of the pension fund is paramount,” he said in an e-mail. “Transparency is strongly valued by the department of State Treasurer, and key to confidence in the investment process. Treasurer Cowell has implemented numerous ethics and disclosure reforms which make North Carolina’s investment program one of the most transparent in the nation.”