Dale Folwell

Folwell graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1984Josh Bergeron, [https://www.salisburypost.com/2016/01/25/folwell-hopes-to-conserve-states-finances-as-nc-treasurer/ Folwell hopes to conserve states finances as NC treasurer], Salisbury Port (January 25, 2016). with a Bachelor of Science in accounting.{{cite news|author=Dan Boylan|newspaper=Charlotte Observer|title=Trash collector, mechanic, CPA, lawmaker — now he wants to run NC's $90 billion pension fund|url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article109005952.html|date=October 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226070715/https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article109005952.html|archive-date=December 26, 2018}} He worked as an accountant. He also received a master's degree in accounting from UNC Greensboro.{{Cite web|title = Dale Folwell, NC House District 74 candidate|url = http://yesweekly.com/article-9377-dale-folwell-nc-house-district-74-candidate.html|website = yesweekly.com|access-date = February 17, 2016|language = en-US|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160225174401/http://yesweekly.com/article-9377-dale-folwell-nc-house-district-74-candidate.html|archive-date = February 25, 2016|url-status = dead}} He is a certified public accountant,{{cite news|author=David N. Bass|title=N.C. House Speaker Pro Tem Won't Seek Another Term in 2012|url=https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/n-c-house-speaker-pro-tem-wont-seek-another-term-in-2012/|newspaper=Carolina Journal|date=December 8, 2011}} and also worked as a gas station attendant, custodian, trash collector, and as an investment advisor for Deutsche Bank.

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

In 2004 Folwell was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives receiving 62.9% of votes.{{Cite web|url = https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/ENRS/2004_11_02/results_statewide_20041102.pdf|title=2004 General Election Results|publisher=North Carolina State Board of Elections}} He took office in 2005 and ultimately served four terms.Rob Christensen, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120509063828/http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/18/1786105/hopefuls-angle-for-lieutenant.html Republican hopefuls angle for lieutenant governor], News & Observer (January 17, 2012). From 2007-2008, Folwell was Joint Republican Caucus Leader.{{Cite web|url = https://www.ncleg.gov/documentsites/committees/OEESC/NC%20Comments%20on%20Offshore%20Energy%20issues/GOP%20caucus%20letter%20to%20MMS%20on%205-yr%20plan%20(10Sept2008).pdf|title =September 10, 2008 Letter from Republican leadership in the North Carolina General Assembly to Minerals Management Service|date=September 10, 2008}} He was elected speaker pro tempore for the 2011-2012 session, working with House Speaker Thom Tillis.

Folwell gained a reputation for social conservatism, and in the state House was a vocal proponent of the legislation that in 2012 placed Amendment 1, a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, on the state ballot.{{cite web|url=http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/09/08/article/rep_dale_follwell_let_public_decide_marriage_law|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323051633/http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/09/08/article/rep_dale_follwell_let_public_decide_marriage_law|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 23, 2012|title=Let Public Decide Marriage Law|newspaper=Greensboro News & Record|author=Dale Folwell|date=September 9, 2011|access-date=February 24, 2016}}{{Cite web|author=Wesley Young|title=Same-sex Marriage Debate Highlights Folwell Town Hall Meeting|newspaper=Winston-Salem Journal|url=http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/sep/09/wsmet01-same-sex-marriage-debate-highlights-folwel-ar-1370474/|date=September 9, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930121105/http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/sep/09/wsmet01-same-sex-marriage-debate-highlights-folwel-ar-1370474/|archive-date=September 30, 2012}}

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 law. Folwell also sponsored a bill that fundamentally altered the state's worker's compensation laws.Richard Craver, [https://journalnow.com/business/employers-break-workers-comp-rules/article_b1ffe70c-a781-50f0-b3a1-c7af7730e2cc.html 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.John Hinton, [https://www.journalnow.com/news/local/coalition-to-honor-legislators-who-backed-redistricting-reform/article_489c6ab0-4eec-5995-b466-29ac235f3ac0.html Coalition to honor legislators who backed redistricting reform], Winston-Salem Journal (March 5, 2012). 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.[https://www.journalnow.com/news/local/folwell-switches-stance-on-loans/article_7756860b-310f-5573-ac0f-1620485c4ac4.html Folwell switches stance on loans], Winston-Salem Journal (June 30, 2011). 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, raise certain fees (on driver education courses, GED courts, and ferry tolls), and discontinue the extra penny on state sales tax.Travis Fain, [https://www.journalnow.com/news/state/gop-budget-plan-would-cut-millions-from-education-raise-fees/article_3b8c9c03-c3da-5040-952c-55920f800cbe.html GOP budget plan would cut millions from education, raise fees, end penny of sales tax], Winston-Salem Journal (May 1, 2011).

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.{{cite news|title=Effective legislators|url=http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2010/apr/07/effective-legislators-ar-204527/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130128113926/http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2010/apr/07/effective-legislators-ar-204527/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 28, 2013|access-date=January 11, 2012|newspaper=Winston-Salem Journal|date=April 7, 2010}} He was highly rated by the business advocacy group North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation{{Cite web |url=http://ncfef.org/NCFEF_News/Entries/2011/10/20_NCFEF_Releases_Business_Ratings_of_the_2011_N.C._General_Assembly.html |title=North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation 2011 General Assembly Business Ratings |access-date=October 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023113156/http://www.ncfef.org/NCFEF_News/Entries/2011/10/20_NCFEF_Releases_Business_Ratings_of_the_2011_N.C._General_Assembly.html |archive-date=October 23, 2011 |url-status=dead }} and the right-wing group Civitas Action, which rated him the most conservative member of the House.{{Cite web |url=http://www.civitasaction.org/all-legislators/2009/ |title=Civitas Action 2009 |access-date=June 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027125318/http://civitasaction.org/all-legislators/2009/ |archive-date=October 27, 2010 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.civitasaction.org/house/Dale%20Folwell/2010/ |title=Civitas Action 2011 |access-date=November 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426005758/http://www.civitasaction.org/house/Dale%20Folwell/2010/ |archive-date=April 26, 2012 |url-status=dead }}

{{Further|2012 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election}}

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).

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 and Tony Gurley. Folwell was defeated in the May 2012 Republican primary.

In March 2013, Secretary of Commerce Sharon Decker named Folwell to the post of Assistant Secretary of Employment Security at the North Carolina Department of Commerce; in that role, Folwell oversaw the department's Division of Employment Security.Matthew Burns, [https://www.wral.com/former-lawmaker-to-head-employment-security/12218689/ Former lawmaker to head Employment Security], WRAL (March 13, 2013).Colin Campbell. [https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article46250955.html 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 benefits to attend a mandatory interview.{{Cite press release|title = NC unemployment benefits will require interview|url = http://www.wsicweb.com/wsicnews/nc-unemployment-benefits-will-require-interview/|publisher=North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Employment Security|date=March 10, 2014}} In November 2015, Folwell resigned, publicly considering a run for state treasurer.

In December 2015, Folwell announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for North Carolina State Treasurer in the 2016 election.[http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article47339830.html Republican Dale Folwell to run for state treasurer], News & Observer (December 1, 2015). In the November 2016 election, Folwell faced Democratic nominee Dan Blue III, a consultant, lawyer, investment banker, and son of Dan Blue Jr.Andrew Barksdale, [https://www.fayobserver.com/a20b8218-1c6d-11e6-8f3b-17dc58fc497b.html Meet Dan Blue III, the Democratic candidate for N.C. state treasurer], Fay Observer (May 17, 2016). Folwell won, receiving 52.7% of the vote to Blue's 47.3%.[https://er.ncsbe.gov/?election_dt=11/08/2016&county_id=0&office=COS&contest=0 11/08/2016 Official General Election Results - Statewide: Council of State], North Carolina State Board of Elections. Folwell took office on January 1, 2017.Jon Jimison, [https://www.journalnow.com/news/local/dale-folwell-sworn-in-as-ncs-treasurer-minutes-into-2017/article_5127d495-6c3c-531e-b377-86bbd1c09791.html Dale Folwell sworn in as NC's treasurer minutes into 2017], Winston-Salem Journal (January 1, 2017). He became the first Republican to hold the office since David A. Jenkins served during the Reconstruction era from 1868 to 1876.{{cite news| last = MacMillan| first = Mike| title = State Treasurer Dale Folwell relishes the chance to stir it up| newspaper = Business North Carolina| date = July 1, 2022| url = https://businessnc.com/state-treasurer-dale-folwell-relishes-the-chance-to-stir-it-up/| access-date = February 5, 2023}}

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 providers.Richard Craver, [https://www.journalnow.com/news/elections/local/race-for-n-c-treasurer-pits-seasoned-incumbent-against-political-newcomer/article_283b3524-7b53-51c2-abf8-04ee930978bd.html Race for N.C. treasurer pits seasoned incumbent against political newcomer], Winston-Salem Journal (March 5, 2020).Jason Debruyn, [https://www.wunc.org/post/game-chicken-puts-state-employees-health-care-risk '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.Jeff Tiberii, [https://www.wunc.org/post/he-lost-battle-healthcare-state-treasurer-still-war-lawmakers-over-reform He Lost A Battle On Healthcare. But The State Treasurer Is Still At War With Lawmakers Over Reform], WUNC (October 30, 2019).

Folwell ended State Health Plan coverage for gender dysphoria 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, which called it discriminatory.Rebecca Martinez, [https://www.wunc.org/post/nc-health-plan-excludes-comprehensive-care-transgender-state-employees NC Health Plan Excludes Comprehensive Care For Transgender State Employees], WUNC (October 22, 2018).

In mid-March 2020, Folwell (along with the other Republicans on the Council of State) opposed Governor Roy Cooper'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 (COVID-19) during the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina.A.P. Dillon, [https://nsjonline.com/article/2020/06/emails-put-coopers-restaurant-and-bar-order-back-in-the-spotlight/ Emails put Cooper's restaurant and bar order back in the spotlight], North State Journal (June 2, 2020).Nick Ochsner, [https://www.wbtv.com/2020/06/01/emails-show-republican-majority-council-state-objected-governors-order-closing-restaurants/ Emails show Republican majority on Council of State objected to Governor's order closing restaurants], WBTV (June 1, 2020). In March 2020, Folwell was hospitalized for five days after suffering from COVID-19.Andrew Barnett, [https://www.wbtv.com/2020/03/25/nc-state-treasurer-dale-folwell-tests-positive-coronavirus/ N.C. Treasurer Dale Folwell released from hospital more than a week after testing positive for coronavirus], WBTV (March 25, 2020). In April 2020, Folwell asked Cooper to modify his stay-at-home executive order to allow the Charlotte Motor Speedway to host a NASCAR race, the Coca-Cola 600, without an audience of fans.Langston Wertz Jr., [https://www.newsobserver.com/article242143521.html Two high-ranking NC politicians urge Gov. Cooper to allow Charlotte to host NASCAR race], News & Observer (April 20, 2020).

Folwell successfully sought reelection in 2020. He had no opponent in the Republican primary election, and defeated Aaron Chatterji, a professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and Sanford School of Public Policy and former Obama administration official, in the November election by a 52.6% to 47.4% margin.{{cite web| url = https://journalnow.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/folwell-wins-reelection/article_2b60ad96-1dda-11eb-8b36-5ffad06c2f9b.html| title = Folwell wins reelection {{!}} Politics {{!}} journalnow.com}}

Under Folwell's leadership, the state's treasury issued hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt to senior citizens who were overpaid retirement benefits by the state and were previously informed their pay was correct. In response, he stated "That’s a great point, but the dates that you mentioned are called 'pre-Dale' because I wasn’t the treasurer then."{{Cite web |last=WRAL |date=2023-05-22 |title=Raleigh man's retirement dreams vanish when state's miscalculation leads to $241,000 debt |url=https://www.wral.com/raleigh-mans-retirement-dreams-vanish-when-states-miscalculation-leads-to-241-000-debut/20874752/ |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=WRAL.com |language=en}}

Folwell was succeeded as treasurer by Brad Briner on January 2, 2025.{{cite news| last = McCleary| first = Nancy| title = Folwell proud of record as state treasurer| newspaper = The Sanford Herald| date = January 2, 2025| url = https://www.sanfordherald.com/news/folwell-proud-of-record-as-state-treasurer/article_c01e6b62-92f5-5248-afe7-fa46e9d1d38d.html| access-date = January 3, 2025}}

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.{{Cite web |url=http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2008/nov/09/story-suggests-that-we-really-may-be-leaving-race--ar-132451/ |title=Story suggests that we really may be leaving race behind |access-date=July 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927214342/http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2008/nov/09/story-suggests-that-we-really-may-be-leaving-race--ar-132451/|newspaper=Winston-Salem Journal|archive-date=September 27, 2012 |url-status=dead }} Since then, Folwell has been an advocate for organ donation, and in 2012 completed a motorcycle ride of all 48 contiguous United States for the cause.{{Cite web |url=http://www.wistv.com/global/story.asp?s=5493767 |title=NC Rep. Folwell completes 48-state motorcycle ride for charity|publisher=WIS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318132121/http://www.wistv.com/global/story.asp?s=5493767 |archive-date=March 18, 2012 |url-status=dead }}

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Category:1958 births

Category:21st-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly

Category:Businesspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina

Category:Candidates in the 2024 United States elections

Category:Living people

Category:Politicians from Raleigh, North Carolina

Category:Politicians from Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Category:Republican Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives

Category:School board members in North Carolina

Category:State treasurers of North Carolina

Category:University of North Carolina at Greensboro alumni