CHARLESTON, W.Va.— State Treasurer-elect Larry Pack will now serve as the interim treasurer for 10 days after being sworn in by Governor Jim Justice Friday afternoon at the capitol.
He succeeds Riley Moore who left the treasurer position to go to congress and who was also sworn into that position on Friday. Pack will officially begin his four-year term on January 13th when the Board of Public Workers take their oaths.
Governor Jim Justice says he was honored to have been given the opportunity to administer the oath to Pack, especially after having appointed him to the House of Delegates in 2020.
“I’m getting the honor of swearing him in to be able to be the person who looks after the finances of the state in many ways, absolutely looks after our investments, looks after all kinds of things that absolutely make the engine run,” Justice said.
After taking the oath, Pack said that he was very honored to be able to serve as state treasurer.
“It’s such an honor, an honor, privilege, and a blessing to be your 26th state treasurer,” Pack said. “Feel like I’m pinching myself a little bit. Thank you so much for trusting me to serve as West Virginia’s chief financial officer.”
Pack previously served as a member of the House of Delegates from 2020 to 2022, West Virginia’s acting Secretary of Revenue since December 2023. After his resignation from the House, he served as Governor Justice’s Senior Advisor up until his appointment as Secretary of Revenue.
He says that his experience has helped prepare him for this new role as treasurer.
“These experiences have really been an in-depth prep course on how West Virginia, how our government spends money, collects money, invests money, and it’s been a really interesting deal,” Pack said.
In his new role, he says that he will strive to keep the momentum that Riley Moore had going.
“As your new state treasurer, I hope to build on the successes of Treasurer Moore, the many successes of Treasurer Moore and his accomplishments,” Pack said. “Using fresh ideas and a new perspective. I’ll be standing on his shoulders, and I look forward to going forward.”
He says that he plans on making sure that the Hope Scholarship is available to everyone, making sure that high school students are taught about financial literacy and protect West Virginia retirees and their pensions.
He says making sure the West Virginia taxpayer money is spent at the right times will remain a number one priority for him.
“Our government should live within its means, we can do that, we shouldn’t spend more than is necessary and not necessary as far as the ideas that we came up with but necessary to serve our citizens,” Pack said. “We can do better, we can save more money, we can cut more taxes. And I’ll work every day to make sure that happens.”