NAST elects new leadership for a new year
2 min read
Newly-elected leadership at the National Association of State Treasurers is taking dead aim at several key muni industry interests.
“While there are many critical issues, NAST will continue to work on areas that are important to our bipartisan membership,” said South Dakota Treasurer and newly-elected NAST president, Josh Haeder. “This includes advocating for restoration of advance refunding’s and the protection of tax-exempt municipal bonds.”
Like other industry leaders, Haeder believes a divided Congress could function as a feature, not a bug for public finance legislation. “We don’t see a divided Congress as a hinderance to our issues because NAST’s issues enjoy broad bipartisan support,” he said. “The key will be to continue working with both sides of the aisle to identify opportunities for advancing our issues when legislation moves forward, and I think our strong working relationship with all members of Congress will only help that.”
Managing the funding provided by the IIJA is another area of focus for the organization. Haeder is looking for help from the feds to get the money to the right projects.
“It will be important for those at the federal level managing IIJA funds to have well-organized project management tools,” he said. “This funding represents an opportunity to meet the needs of many of our critical infrastructure projects and the scale and scope of the funding nationwide will require significant partnerships to make sure that we maximize every federal, state, and local dollar.”
Haeder previously served NAST as SVP. In his new role, he’ll chair the executive committee and the NAST Foundation Board. Prior to becoming South Dakota’s 33rd State Treasurer in 2019, Haeder was the managing partner of Haeder Organization, LLC, based in Huron, South Dakota.
In addition to Haeder’s ascension, NAST also announced that Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs will now serve as SVP, and Thomas Beadle, North Dakota’s Treasurer will be the organization’s new secretary-treasurer.
Regional VPs for the organization who have already begun serving their tenure include Colleen Davis of Delaware in the East, Rachael Eubanks of Michigan in the Midwest, David McRae of Mississippi in the South and Fiona Ma of California, representing the West.
Haeder intends to lead NAST and influence his federal partners towards governing responsibly.
“The American people want to see results,” he said. “I would encourage all our elected officials to remember why they ran for office. They are there to act on behalf of the best interests of those they represent. NAST is a great example of what can be accomplished when differences are worked through, and the end goal is achieving results.”
