Dale Robbins Folwell (born December 17, 1958) is an American politician who has been the

North Carolina State Treasurer The North Carolina State Treasurer is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina responsible for overseeing the financial operations of state government. The current state treasurer is Dale Folwell. The office of state treasur ...

since 2017. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

from

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

, Folwell spent four terms in

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

, including a term as

speaker pro tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

from 2011 to 2013. He was head of the state's Division of Employment Security in the administration of Governor

Pat McCrory Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American businessman, politician and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd Mayor o ...

from 2013 to 2015. He was elected State Treasurer in the 2016 election, taking office on January 1, 2017. Folwell was reelected to a second term in 2020, defeating Democratic challenger Ronnie Chatterji.

Education and career before politics

Folwell graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...

in 1984Josh Bergeron
Folwell hopes to conserve states finances as NC treasurer
''Salisbury Port'' (January 25, 2016). with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in accounting. He worked as an accountant. He also received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in accounting from UNC Greensboro. He is a

certified public accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

, and also worked as an

investment advisor A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

for

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

Political career

School board

Folwell was a member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education from 1993 to 2000.

State House

In 2004 Folwell was elected to the

receiving 62.9% of votes. He took office in 2005 and ultimately served four terms.Rob Christensen
Republican hopefuls angle for lieutenant governor
''News & Observer'' (January 17, 2012). From 2007-2008, Folwell was Joint Republican Caucus Leader. He was elected

for the 2011-2012 session, working with House Speaker

Thom Tillis Thomas Roland Tillis (born August 30, 1960) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from North Carolina since 2015. A Republican, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2006, and began servi ...

. Folwell gained a reputation for

social conservatism Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institutio ...

, and in the state House was a vocal proponent of the legislation that in 2002 placed Amendment 1, a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, on the state ballot. During his time in the state House, Folwell was the sponsor of 29 bills that became law. Most were uncontroversial; in 2012, Folwell said that 20 of the bills that he sponsored passed with 4,098 "yes" votes to 175 "no" votes. Among the Folwell-sponsored legislation that became law was an update to state

organ donation Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin. Donation may be for re ...

law. Folwell also sponsored a bill that fundamentally altered the state's

worker's compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

laws.Richard Craver
Employers break workers' comp rules
''Winston-Salem Journal'' (May 20, 2012). The legislation, favored by business groups, was a bipartisan effort that involved a cap on some benefits and an extension on others. Folwell framed the legislation as a necessary reform that controlled costs and fraud; critics "said the reform potentially allows insurance companies to force injured workers into very low-paying occupations without giving fair consideration to pre-injury earnings." Folwell supported redistricting reform legislation in 2011. In June 2011, Folwell initially voted in favor of controversial legislation (House Bill 810) to allow short-term consumer loans with high effective annual interest rates (up to 50%); two weeks later, Folwell asked that the official record to be modified to reflect that he voted "no," explaining that he changed his mind upon further consideration. Also in 2011, Folwell backed a Republican budget plan that would cut $400 million from Governor Perdue's budget proposal for K-12 education (which already recommended a $350 million cut), dismantle a significant portion of the

North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) is an agency of the government of North Carolina that focuses on the preservation and protection of natural resources and public health. The Department is headed by the Secretary of En ...

, raise certain fees (on driver education courses, GED courts, and ferry tolls), and discontinue the extra penny on

state sales tax Sales taxes in the United States are taxes placed on the sale or lease of goods and services in the United States. Sales tax is governed at the state level and no national general sales tax exists. 45 states, the District of Columbia, the t ...

. A 2010 ranking of the non-partisan North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research ranked Folwell 38th in effectiveness in the House, down from 32nd the prior session. He was highly rated by the business advocacy group North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation and the right-wing group Civitas Action, which rated him the most conservative member of the House.

Unsuccessful campaigns for state treasurer and lieutenant governor

In 2008, Folwell sought the Republican nomination for state treasurer, but dropped out of the race (the nomination was ultimately run by Bill Daughtridge, who lost to

Janet Cowell Janet Cowell (born July 19, 1968) is the former North Carolina State Treasurer, serving from 2009 to 2017, and is the first woman to hold that position in North Carolina. She was previously a two-term member of the Raleigh City Council and a tw ...

). In December 2011, Folwell announced that he would not seek election to a fifth term in the North Carolina state House. Instead, he ran for the 2012 Republican nomination for lieutenant governor against

Dan Forest Dan Forest (born October 15, 1967) is an American politician who served as the 34th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, lieutenant governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2021. He is the son of former congresswoman Sue Myrick. An architect b ...

and

Tony Gurley Tony Gurley (born April 3, 1956) is an American businessman and political figure from North Carolina, currently serving as chief operating officer for the Office of State Budget and Management. He served on the Wake County Board of Commissioners ...

. Folwell was defeated in the May 2012 Republican primary.

North Carolina Assistant Secretary of Commerce

In March 2013, Secretary of Commerce

Sharon Decker Sharon Allred Decker (born 1957) is an American businesswoman and political figure who served as North Carolina Secretary of Commerce under the McCrory Administration. In that role, she was also a member of the North Carolina Cabinet. Business ca ...

named Folwell to the post of Assistant Secretary of Employment Security at the

North Carolina Department of Commerce The North Carolina Department of Commerce was formed in 1971 by the North Carolina State Government Reorganization Act. The department is headed by the Secretary of Commerce, who is appointed by the Governor of North Carolina. The Secretary is p ...

; in that role, Folwell oversaw the department's Division of Employment Security.Colin Campbell
Dale Folwell resigns employment security role, mulls run for treasurer
''News & Observer'' (November 24, 2015). Folwell gained a reputation as reformer, although some of his actions were controversial. Over a 30-month period under Folwell, the North Carolina unemployment insurance system repaid a debt of $2.5 billion owed to the federal government, but did so by imposing an surcharge on employers and restricting unemployment benefits (by lowering both the amount of weekly payments and the number of weeks for which job-seekers were eligible to collect benefits). These changes made North Carolina one of the U.S. states with the lowest unemployment benefits, and were opposed by the state AFL-CIO. In 2014, under Folwell, the department also adopted a policy of requiring recipients of

unemployment insurance Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...

benefits to attend a mandatory interview. In November 2015, Folwell resigned, publicly considering a run for state treasurer.

State Treasurer

In December 2015, Folwell announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for

in the 2016 election. In the November 2016 election, Folwell faced Democratic nominee Dan Blue III, a consultant, lawyer, investment banker, and son of Dan Blue Jr. Folwell won, receiving 52.7% of the vote to Blue's 47.3%. Folwell took office on January 1, 2017. As state treasurer, Folwell promoted a controversial "Clear Pricing Plan" contract initiative, attempting to move State Health Plan participants to a pricing model that would tie all payments to Medicare, rather than negotiating reimbursement rate with

health care provider A health care provider is an individual health professional or a health facility organization licensed to provide health care diagnosis and treatment services including medication, surgery and medical devices. Health care providers often receive ...

s.Richard Craver
Race for N.C. treasurer pits seasoned incumbent against political newcomer
''Winston-Salem Journal'' (March 5, 2020).Jason Debruyn
'Game of Chicken' Puts State Employees Health Care At Risk
WUNC (June 28, 2019). The plan would save money for the plan, but would also cause providers to be reimbursed for their services at lower, but still profitable, rates. The North Carolina Healthcare Association opposed the plan, while the State Employees Association of North Carolina supported it. Folwell ultimately lost a battle with the state legislature over his proposal. Folwell ended State Health Plan coverage for

gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder (GID) was used until ...

treatment for transgender and non-binary state employees. Folwell framed the move as a cost-cutting measure; the move was criticized by the LGBTQ advocacy group

Equality NC Equality NC (ENC) is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocacy group and political lobbying organization in North Carolina and is the oldest statewide LGBT equality organization in the United States. Structure Equality ...

, which called it discriminatory. In mid-March 2020, Folwell (along with the other Republicans on the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

) opposed Governor

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III (born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician, serving as the 75th governor of North Carolina since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th attorney general of North Carolina from 20 ...

's closure of bars, and restriction of restaurants to take-out and delivery only, which Cooper had ordered to prevent the spread of

coronavirus disease Coronavirus diseases are caused by viruses in the coronavirus subfamily, a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by ...

(COVID-19) during the

COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. state of North Carolina on March 3, 2020. As of May 2021, North Carolina has the 10th highest number of confirmed cases in the United States. , 69% of the adult population in North Ca ...

. In March 2020, Folwell was hospitalized for five days after suffering from COVID-19. In April 2020, Folwell asked Cooper to modify his stay-at-home executive order to allow the

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

to host a NASCAR race, the

Coca-Cola 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...

, without an audience of fans. Folwell successfully sought reelection in 2020. He had no opponent in the Republican

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

, and defeated Aaron "Ronnie" Chatterji, a professor at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Fuqua School of Business The Fuqua School of Business (pronounced ) is the business school of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. It enrolls more than 1,300 students in degree-seeking programs. Duke Executive Education also offers non-degree business education and ...

and

Sanford School of Public Policy The Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University is named after former Duke president and Governor of North Carolina Terry Sanford, who established the university's Institute for Policy Sciences and Public Affairs in 1971 as an interdiscipli ...

and former Obama administration official, in the November election by a 52.6% to 47.4% margin.

Personal life

In May 1999, Folwell's 7-year-old son Dalton died after being hit by a car as he tried to board a school bus. Following the accident, he and his wife allowed their son to be an organ donor. Since then, Folwell has been an advocate for organ donation, and in 2012 completed a motorcycle ride of all 48

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

for the cause.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Folwell, Dale 21st-century American politicians Businesspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina Living people Republican Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Politicians from Raleigh, North Carolina Politicians from Winston-Salem, North Carolina School board members in North Carolina State treasurers of North Carolina University of North Carolina at Greensboro alumni 1958 births