Before Treasurer Don Stenberg got up to speak Tuesday, July 28, at the noon Rotary Club meeting in Grand Island, he listened to the standard introduction taken from his biography on the Treasurer’s website.
But Rotary member Glenn Wilson, a long-time acquaintance and friend of Treasurer Stenberg, concluded his introductory remarks with some unscripted words not found on the website.
“I have followed his career, and he has done a good job wherever he has been,” said Wilson, himself a former executive director of the Republican Party of Nebraska and a former Commerce Commissioner in Minnesota. Now retired and living in Grand Island, Wilson is a member of the board of directors of the Grand Island Community Redevelopment Agency and is a board member of the State Board of Educational Lands and Funds.
Don Stenberg has provided “great long-term leadership in our state government,” Wilson said.
Wilson noted that the Commerce Commission, which he directed for eight years from 2003 to 2011, oversaw the unclaimed property program in Minnesota.
In his remarks, Treasurer Stenberg talked about the responsibilities and accomplishments of the office, touching on each division along with the new Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) savings program and the transparency website, StateSpending.Nebraska.gov, which is maintained by the Treasurer’s Office.
He fielded questions about how long unclaimed property is held, what happens to the money that is not claimed, and how to file a claim. He also answered questions from State Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island about proposed federal regulations regarding the ABLE program. Gloor is chair of the Revenue Committee, which advanced the ABLE bill (LB591) to the full Legislature earlier this year.
