Marshall to speak at JJ Dinner

State Treasurer Kate Marshall is this year’s keynote speaker at Thursday’s Jefferson-Jackson Democrat Dinner at the convention center.

Marshall, a Democrat, is running for secretary of state.

Marshall was initially elected treasurer of Nevada in 2006. She won the Democratic nomination with more thab 65 percent of the vote and defeated Mark Destefano in the general election by a 47-41 margin. She was elected to a second term in 2010 against Steve Martin with 48 percent of the vote.

According to Marshall’s website, “A crowning achievement of her term as State Treasurer is the successful sponsorship and passage of Senate Bill 75 during the 2011 Legislative Session, which created the state’s first in-state private equity investment fund. The goal of the $50 million Silver State Opportunity Fund is to capitalize on investment opportunities in Nevada in order to increase funding for Nevada’s K-12 schools. A minimum of 70 percent of investments must be made in businesses located in Nevada, looking to expand in Nevada, or in businesses wishing to relocate in Nevada. Earnings from the fund go to Nevada’s K-12 schools.”

“In 2013, she worked with Upromise, the Nevada College Savings Plans program manager, to lower the initial account opening cost to a mere $15, making it more affordable for Nevada families to begin saving for their children’s future higher education costs. Kate initiated the Ugift and Silver State Matching Grant programs, which provide greater opportunities for family members and friends to contribute to a child’s college savings plan. Further, the Distinguished Valor Matching Grant program was established to assist Nevada military families save for their children’s college costs.”

During her time as administrator of the Nevada College Savings Plans, the number of Nevada families opening college savings accounts has grown by 163 percent and total assets held in those college savings accounts has grown from $4.58 billion to $11.9 billion. The Nevada Prepaid Tuition Program, which allows Nevadans to lock in future tuition for their children at a today’s cost, is also part of the state’s college savings network. During her term, the number of Nevada Prepaid Tuition contracts sold annually has increased from a little more than 200 per year to more than 1,100 in FY13, with total assets growing from $109 million to $163 million, and the funded ration of the program increasing by 2013 to nearly 112 percent, one of the highest in the nation.

After graduation from the University of California, Berkeley, she served in Kenya as a member of the Peace Corps. Marshall also interned for the law firm of retired U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev.

After law school, Marshall went on to serve with distinction in the Department of Justice where she received the Antitrust Division’s Outstanding Contribution Award for service. Her career in public service continued when she became the senior deputy attorney general for the State of Nevada under Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa.

On May 4, 2011, Marshall announced she would run in a special election for Nevada’s Congressional District 2 but was defeated by Republican Mark Amodei.

Also expected to speak is Lucy Flores, a member of the Nevada State Assembly, representing the 28th district in northeast Las Vegas Valley covering Sunrise Manor West. Flores is a candidate for lieutenant governor.

Flores was elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 2010, and became vice chair of the Nevada Hispanic Legislative Caucus in 2012.