Nancy Kopp

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Nancy Kopp
Nancy Kopp.jpg
23rd Treasurer of Maryland
Assumed office
February 14, 2002
GovernorParris Glendening
Bob Ehrlich
Martin O'Malley
Larry Hogan
Preceded byRichard Dixon
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates
In office
1975–2002
Succeeded bySusan C. Lee
Personal details
Born (1943-12-07) December 7, 1943 (age 77)
Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Robert Kopp
​
(m. 1969)​
Children2
EducationWellesley College (BA)
University of Chicago (MA)
Salary$149,000 (2019)[1]
WebsiteGovernment website

Nancy K. Kopp (born (1943-12-07)December 7, 1943) has been the Treasurer of Maryland since 2002. A Democrat, she was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing the 16th legislative district in Montgomery County, Maryland, from 1975 to 2002.

Education[edit]

Kopp attended Wellesley College, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965. In 1967 she graduated from the University of Chicago with a Master of Arts degree in government & public administration, before moving to Bethesda, Maryland to take a U.S. Department of Justice job. Before the move, Kopp had completed coursework and preliminary exams for a PhD degree in political philosophy though did not complete her dissertation.[2]

Kopp also has honorary degrees from University of Maryland, Baltimore, the University of Maryland University College, Towson University, and Hood College. Additionally, she is a Sarah T. Hughes Fellow from Goucher College and a Yale Gordon Public Affairs Fellow from the University of Baltimore.

Political career and tenure as State Treasurer[edit]

After two years working with the Department of Justice, Kopp took a staff job with Montgomery County's delegation to the state legislature. In 1974, Kopp was elected at the age of 31 to the first of seven four-year terms in the Maryland House of Delegates.[2] In late 1992, she led a failed attempt to remove Clayton Mitchell from his role as Maryland's speaker of the house.[3]

Appointed by Maryland's General Assembly, Kopp became the state treasurer in 2002, the second woman to serve in the position, as Lucille Maurer held the position from 1987 to 1996. A bipartisan panel recommended in mid-February 2019 that Kopp keep the job, besting two other applicants who each earned single votes.[4] A week later, the state's lawmakers re-elected Kopp to a fifth four-year term.[1]

In 2014, Kopp argued against Governor Martin O'Malley's plan to divert $100 million – one-third of a planned payment to the state's retirement system – toward other budget needs. Kopp said the change in payment, pledged by 2011 legislation, was the wrong choice and would be costly to state workers and taxpayers.[5][6] The Maryland Senate later chose to cut two-thirds from the pledged amount, adding $100 million to the pension that year, with plans for increased payments in future years.[7]

Construction of toll lanes on I-270 and I-495 Beltway[edit]

Kopp is one of three members of the Maryland State Board of Public Works (with Comptroller Franchot and Governor Hogan) who decided whether to approve the governor's plan to expand Interstate Highways I-495 ("the Beltway") and I-270.[8] The plan implements toll lanes on the Capital Beltway where it passes through Maryland[9] and had support in 2019 from 60% of residents of the Washington area, although in the same poll, respondents also expressed concern about home seizures, pollution and increasing traffic from the plan.[10]

Kopp had not publicly announced beforehand how she intended to vote on Governor Hogan's proposal, though she was described as an "avowed skeptic" of the plan.[8] On June 5, 2019, Kopp's was the opposing vote in a 2–1 approval of Hogan's plan to solicit private companies to build and operate toll lanes, on I-270 first and then the beltway.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Wood, Pamela (19 February 2019). "Maryland lawmakers re-elect Democrat Nancy Kopp to four-year term as state treasurer". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b Peck, Louis (September 28, 2015). "State Treasurer Nancy Kopp Not Slowing Down". Bethesda Magazine. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  3. ^ Bortz, Bruce L. (December 17, 1992). "A revolt that failed". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  4. ^ Wood, Pamela (12 February 2019). "Bipartisan panel recommends that Nancy Kopp retain her job as Maryland treasurer". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  5. ^ Lazarick, Len (February 3, 2014). "State Treasurer Kopp Opposes O'Malley's $100m Cut in Md. Pension Contribution". Southern Maryland Online. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  6. ^ Lang, Robert (February 26, 2014). "Kopp, Franchot Criticize O'Malley Pension Shift To Balance Budget". WBAL. Associated Press. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  7. ^ Lang, Robert (March 7, 2014). "Senate Committee Votes To Use Pension Savings To Plug Budget Holes". WBAL. Associated Press. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  8. ^ a b DePuyt, Bruce (May 3, 2019). "Hogan Agrees to Delay BPW Vote on Highway Expansion Plan". Maryland Matters. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  9. ^ Halsey, Ashley (25 January 2017). "The 100 worst traffic bottlenecks on U.S. highways". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  10. ^ Shaver, Katherine (12 May 2019). "Poll: 61 percent of D.C.-area residents favor plan to add toll lanes to Beltway, I-270". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  11. ^ Shaver, Katherine (June 5, 2019). "Hogan's plan to add toll lanes to Beltway, I-270 clears key vote — with some changes". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 6, 2019.

External links[edit]

Political offices
Preceded by
Richard N. Dixon 		Treasurer of Maryland
2002–present 		Incumbent
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