Treasurer touts state economy at joint civic club meeting at LCC

“My mother is from Laurel, and my grandmother and grandfather lived here in Laurel,” McRae said. “They lived over by the high school in a home that’s not there anymore. I came down here a lot as a young boy. 

“Tons of times, when Mom and Dad had to go off with business with the store. They would bring me and my brother down here, and I have very fond memories of playing in Laurel and the park that was across the street.”

McRae, whose family owned the McRae’s department stores, also talked about the store they had in Laurel. McRae said it was one of the most successful stores.

“We visited (the store) consistently to make sure it was up to snuff,” McRae said. 

But McRae didn’t come to just reminisce about his roots. He also discussed how the office is trying to help Mississippi grow financially, unclaimed money, and the college savings program.

McRae said he is essentially the bank of the state.

“I handle all financial responsibilities, all the investments of the state,” McRae said. “I maintain our credit rate, and as a result, I’ve been able, up till now, to refinance deals that are going to save the state over 1.7 billion dollars in refinancing opportunities when the market was faithful.”

McRae also said the state made $375 million in investments alone.“That’s a record for the state,” McRae said. “That’s money that doesn’t come from the taxpayers. It’s money that can go to fixing roads and bridges or whatever the state wants to use without having to do a bond bid.”

McRae also bragged about improving Mississippi's overall credit rating since taking office. 

“On our credit rating, we’ve been able to get it, since I’ve been treasurer, from double A negative with a negative outlook to double A positive with a positive outlook,” McRae said. “That means we’ll have to spend less taxpayers’ money when we need to bond, when we need to borrow money.”

McRae also boasted about cleaning up the process for claiming unclaimed money and speeding up the process in getting the funds and getting as much unclaimed money out as possible. He said they took the process online and made it where just searching your name allowed you to find if you had any unclaimed money and get it processed. 

“It’s so easy my father can do it,” McRae joked. “We can turn around money now in five to ten business days. We’re really, really fast at that. And as a result, we’ve been able to turn back 135 million dollars to the people of Mississippi in five years.”

McRae also discussed College Savings Mississippi and explained the benefits to a family looking ahead. He also said he actually is enrolled for his three children as well.

“They are single-handedly the best thing you can do for a young man or woman today,” McRae said. “What they are is prepaid. If college cost a dollar today, it will cost a dollar tomorrow. You lock in tuition. The other is a checking account. You can put in as little as $25, and it can be used for school tuition, room and board, supplies, parking passes, dorms, and all sorts of stuff.

“... The average college graduate today graduates college with $36,000 in debt. When I started my job five years ago, that was $30,000 in debt. Now you can just keep adding to it and figure out how much it will cost down the line. But the goal is to graduate with no debt, so they want to stay in Mississippi. They want to take a job in Mississippi.”

The Jones County Republican Women meet on the second Wednesday of each month at noon at the Laurel Country Club. The Kiwanis Club meets each Wednesday at noon at the LCC.