North Carolina State Treasurer Brad Briner outlined an ambitious agenda for the week, including critical legislative updates, ongoing financial initiatives, and plans for improving transparency within his office, as he works to address the state’s fiscal challenges and pension system concerns.
In a media call Monday, Briner told reporters that his office changed its website last month, including adding a page with accountability metrics.
“We’ve always been committed to transparency,” Briner said. “Our divisions have very clear goals, and like many things in the financial world, they’re very easily measured, and so if you go to our web page, you’ll see an accountability metrics tab where we intend to show you exactly what we’re trying to do in each division. This, for me, was important in setting the tone and how we want to run this department even better than it’s been in the past, and I am so proud of that effort.”
The site will be updated quarterly or semi-annually as information comes in.
The Investment Modernization Act of 2025 was filed Monday in the General Assembly. If passed, the bill would change the state treasurer’s office’s current sole fiduciary model to a board of trustees model.
Briner campaigned on the change last year, saying he believes small groups make better investment decisions than individuals. He also believes the sole fiduciary model has the potential for corruption as only one person can make decisions without a set of checks and balances.
Briner said the bill has strong support in the House and the Senate.
“We’re excited to change the way that we do things so that we can deliver a better performance,” he said. “If you go to that accountability metrics page, you’ll see on the Investment Management Division we have not been delivering the investment performance we need to deliver to make the pension work. This is our attempt to change that.”
Brine’s office is scheduled to talk with the rating agencies on Tuesday, affirming the state’s AAA bond rating in advance of some issuance later this year.
A meeting with the North Carolina Banking Commission and legislative discussions on the State Health Plan are set for Wednesday, with a key focus on addressing a projected $507 million shortfall for 2026. Briner noted that a change in premiums for the first time in eight years may be part of the closing the gap, plus asking the General Assembly for an increase in the appropriation beyond what they’ve given historically.
“So, to make sure that we fund everything we need in the western part of the state, that is a big ask, but I think I’m hopeful that we will get there with them contributing about $100 million to that effort as well,” Briner told reporters. “The balance of that will need to come from some combination of benefit design and providers, and so we’ve got a number of efforts going on there. We’ve heard about those at the March Board of Trustees meeting, but also at the May Board of Trustees meeting, we will make some final decisions around the State Health Plan.”
On Thursday, Briner will announce a major initiative regarding the department’s adoption of new technology that will impact both the Unclaimed Property Division and state and local governments.
As the treasury department closes out the end of the month, Briner anticipates that more than $50 million will be distributed through the Helene Cash Flow Loan Program to local governments in western North Carolina affected by Hurricane Helene. Currently, they stand at a little over $30 million in loans being granted and sent out, with the hopes of getting to the required $98 million by the end of June.
Briner will also start issuing a monthly financial literacy newsletter starting in April, which is recognized as Financial Literacy Month.
Last week, Briner said he was disappointed that Gov. Josh Stein’a proposed budget didn’t fully funding the state’s retirement system, which he said would create a $206 million shortfall in the funds for retirees over the next two years.
During a Q&A period, a reporter asked whether Democrat Gov. Josh Stein was “off base.”
“I don’t think the governor is necessarily off base,” he told the reporter. “I think he is premature in my opinion because investment performance is not something that’s going to manifest tomorrow, it will manifest over time. As a conservative, I think we should spend money only after we have it, not in advance of anticipating it. The proposal that the governor made around funding the pension plans is a solid one, but it’s just not in keeping with current policy.”
In this fall’s “Experience Review,” done every five years, the treasurer’s office will look at every assumption that underlies how the state funds its pensions, including how fast the pension debt is paid down. Currently, North Carolina has a 12-year paydown. Other states have 15 years to as much as 40 years in California.
“What is salary growth in the future? What is life expectancy in the future? What are pension returns in the future?” Briner said, outlining the key questions in the review. “There are about nine different important variables that go into that. I think the prudent approach to all of this is to consider them all collectively and conjunctively, and we’ll do that this fall.”
Briner noted that, based on the results of the Experience Review, he expects the employer contribution rate to decrease. He also said that if pension returns improve, this could lead to an even further reduction in the rate.