Tobias Read is an American politician who is the current Oregon State Treasurer. He was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 27 from 2007–2017, which comprises parts of Beaverton, southwest Portland, and unincorporated Multnomah and Washington Counties. He served as Speaker Pro Tempore, and was formerly the Democratic Majority Whip. In 2016, Read ran for Oregon State Treasurer, to succeed State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, who was barred from running in 2016 by term limits. Read won the general election on November 8, 2016 and became the State Treasurer in January 2017.
Early life and education
Read was born in 1975 in Missoula, Montana. After attending high school in Idaho, he moved to Oregon where he attended Willamette University, where he graduated in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in politics and economics. In 2003, he earned an MBA from the University of Washington in Seattle. He and his wife, Heidi Eggert, have two children, Annika, and Ellis.
Career
In 1997, he started working for Nike, Inc. in footwear development, where he remained until 2012. He also worked for the United States Department of the Treasury as an aide to then-Secretary Lawrence Summers from 1999 to 2001. His immediate supervisor was Sheryl Sandberg. Tobias Read served in the Oregon State Legislature from 2007 - 2016 as the Representative from the 27th district. As a Legislator, Read was a strong advocate for fully funding Oregon’s full-day kindergarten; supported state investments in green tech jobs and research through Oregon Inc and other initiatives; worked to stabilize state funding and enhance the state’s Rainy Day funds; and sponsored legislation to redirect unclaimed funds from class action lawsuits to legal assistance for low income Oregonians; , rather than back to the original corporate wrongdoers. Throughout his legislative career, he sought to expand savings in Oregon’s college savings program, and sponsored legislation to create additional options for retirement savings for Oregonians. During his time in the Oregon House, Read served as House Majority Whip, and in 2015 he was elected Speaker Pro Tempore. He served as chair of the HouseCommittee on Transportation and Economic Development and the House Committee on Higher Education, Innovation, and Workforce Development. He also served on the House Revenue Committee and the JointCommittee on Ways and Means, the primary budget writing body for the Legislature.
State Treasurer
In 2016, Read ran for Oregon State Treasurer, to succeed Ted Wheeler, who was barred by term limits from running again in 2016. He was unopposed in the primary and won the general election by a plurality on November 2016, defeating Republican Jeff Gudman and became the State Treasurer in January 2017.
In 2015, in an effort led by Read and organizations like SEIU and AARP, the Oregon Legislature enacted legislation which created the Oregon Retirement Savings Board and tasked it with establishing a state run retirement savings program and managing its oversight. The retirement program created was called OregonSaves. This is a first of its kind program to help individuals who do not have access to retirement plans through their employer save for retirement. OregonSaves is an opt out automatic enrollment retirement plan for employees who don’t have access to retirement plans through their employer. The plan includes an automatic annual contribution escalation to encourage increased savings. The program began its rollout with a pilot program in July 2017 and began its full roll out, starting with the largest employers, in late 2017. Since the roll out close to 100,000 Oregonians have joined OregonSaves with half of the accounts already funded. Oregonians have saved more than $30 million so far, the total savings increases by around $3 million each month. In 2019, Treasurer Read worked closely with the business community to establish guidelines for employers to ensure full participation in OregonSaves. This legislation ensures an even playing field for all employers and employees. Oregon is a leader on state led retirement savings plans with other states closely following Oregon to establish their own plans. In 2018, Finance industry publication Pensions & Investments and the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association honored Read and OregonSaves with the Excellence & Innovation Award. The award recognizes public and private-sector efforts to enhance retirement security. In 2019 Treasurer Read was invited to speak to the United States Senate Finance Committee on the states innovative approach to retirement savings.
Oregon College Savings Plan
As Treasurer, Tobias Read oversees the Oregon College Savings Program which helps tens-of-thousands of Oregonians save for education after high school. The OCSP is a state sponsored 529 program with additional tax advantages. In the 20 years the Oregon College Savings program has been in existence, Oregon families have saved more than $2 billion towards their education and their kids education. Recognizing how important it is for families to have the ability to save for college, Treasurer Read worked with the Oregon State Legislature to pass the Education Savings Credit which changes the tax advantage from a deduction to a refundable credit. Rolling out in 2020, the Education Savings Credit will make it easier for low-to-moderate income families save for education after high school. The Treasurer worked with a diverse group of organizations including the Latina Network, Stand for Children and the Oregon Student Association and legislators to pass the Education Savings Credit.
