Frank T. Caprio

Frank T. Caprio (born May 10, 1966) is the General Treasurer of Rhode Island. He was the first political candidate in United States to use on-demand television to reach voters and one of the first candidates to launch an Internet TV channel for use in a political campaign in 2006.

Education and early career

Frank T. Caprio is the eldest child of Joyce and Judge Frank Caprio, and he is the brother of Rhode Island State Representative David Caprio. He attended public schools in Narragansett, Rhode Island, graduating from Bishop Hendricken High School in 1984, where he was a "Providence Journal" All-State Football and Baseball player. He earned a degree in economics from Harvard University in 1988. While at Harvard, Caprio was captain of the Harvard baseball team. He was an All-Eastern League outfielder in 1988, [ [http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/sports/alltime.asp?intSID=13 Ivy League Baseball ] ] and an All-Ivy League defensive back on the championship Harvard football team in 1987. [ [http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/documents/fb8788.asp Ivy League Sports ] ] He played against Roger Clemens in a 1987 exhibition game [Dan Shaughnessy, "Clemens' return is 10-K gold: He no-hits Harvard for six innings," The Boston Globe, April 5, 1987. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADEDE4B0B2695F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM] and was scouted by Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams. Caprio earned a J.D. at Suffolk University Law School in 1991 and passed the bar exams in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

As a lawyer, Caprio focused on corporate, tax, and finance issues. He worked as an in-house counsel at Cookson Group plc, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange.

Public Service

Caprio began his political career while a senior at Harvard, when he was 21 years old. He was elected a delegate from Rhode Island’s Congressional District 2 and attended the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. In 1990, while still attending law school, Caprio was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives for District 14 (Providence). He served two terms as a state representative, traveling by train between classes in Boston each morning and legislative sessions in Providence each afternoon.

Following those two terms, Caprio spent the next 13 years serving the Rhode Island Senate, where he chaired the Senate Finance Committee in 2001–2002. In this position, Caprio saved an annual $5 million affordable housing program from being cut by the governor in 2001. He then proposed and implemented a plan to expand the $5 million to $10 million through an affordable housing bond. In 2006, he co-sponsored a bill to increase the annual $10 million bond to a $50 million affordable housing fund. The housing fund was approved by voters in 2006.

Caprio also led the debate on phasing out Rhode Island's capital gains tax, which would allow Rhode Islanders to have the nation’s lowest tax rate on their stock and real estate profits. This tax change became law in 2007. He was removed from his chairmanship by Senate leadership in 2002 as a result of his outspoken advocacy of the Separation of Powers amendment. After some of the Senate leaders were removed from office in 2003, the amendment passed the legislature and became law after a statewide vote. In 2004, Caprio was named as chair of the Senate Commerce, Housing, and Municipal Government Committee.

General Treasurer of Rhode Island

Campaign

On November 7, 2006, Caprio, who had been endorsed by the Democratic Party, was elected General Treasurer of Rhode Island with 73% of the vote. He won by a higher margin than any candidate for a contested statewide position on the Rhode Island ballot in 2006. ["Rhode Island Board of Elections." Rhode Island Board of Elections. 8 Nov. 2006. 9 Oct. 2008 .]

Caprio made Rhode Island history as the first candidate in the state to officially announce his candidacy via a multimedia broadcast that included television, Web, on-demand cable, and radio. This was done, he explained, because he wants his "vision for the treasurer’s office" to be accessible to "as many Rhode Islanders as possible in as comfortable a format as possible." [Scott MacKay, "Caprio’s bid for treasurer to begin in high-tech style," The Providence Journal, June 18, 2006. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/projo/results.html?QryTxt=Caprios+bid+for+treasurer ]

Caprio was the first political candidate in the United States to use On-Demand Television in a campaign. [Stewart Schley, “Politics on Demand,” Broadcasting and Cable, May 1, 2006. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6329696.html?display=Special+Report ] His television documentary, "Caprio, the Biography", was available for free viewing throughout Rhode Island via Cox Communications's On-Demand program. He also launched one of the nation's first campaign internet TV channels. [Yahoo Finance, Marketwire, "TV Worldwide Teams With Rhode Island Candidate to Launch Nation's First Campaign Internet TV Channel, October 4, 2006. http://nd.marketwire.com/news/showcache.do?itemid=6214106] Both the website and his television ads garnered awards. [RI Future, www.rifuture.org] [American Association of Political Consultants, Pollie Awards, Sonoma, CA, March 25, 2006.]

Investments and the 2008 Market Crisis

As Treasurer, Caprio has spared Rhode Island’s pension portfolio from the brunt of the current financial crisis. Months before the subprime mortgage crisis began to take a toll on banks, financial services companies and public pension funds, he began to minimize the State’s exposure to asset backed securities. Steps included conducting a competitive bidding process that expanded the number of qualified investment banks underwriting the State's bond transactions, and minimizing the State’s exposure to companies such as Bear Stearns. [Perry, Jack. "Caprio: Steps taken to protect R.I. from banks' turmoil." The Providence Journal 15 Sept. 2008. 6 Oct. 2008 .]

As part of his effort to ensure the health of Rhode Island’s pension system, Caprio proactively moved $1 billion from Quality D money market funds (with loose terms which could have allowed for investment in CDOs and SIVs) into Quality A institutional money market funds. This occurred before the subprime crisis began to shake financial markets. At the same time, Caprio moved approximately $150 million in high-yield investments into safe Treasury bonds, before the high yield market began to decline. Those moves paid major dividends as several states face financial crises related to defaults and downgrades on subprime-related investments. ["EARLY STEPS BY CAPRIO TO PROTECT RI PENSION FUND ARE PAYING OFF AS SUBPRIME CRISIS STARTS TO HIT INVESTMENT FUNDS IN OTHER STATES." RI.gov. 4 Dec. 2007. 3 Oct. 2008 .] Rhode Island’s pension fund has maintained its 5-year average on investment returns in spite of the current economic turmoil. [ Peoples, Steve, and Katherine Gregg. "R.I. forms ‘swat team’ to protect $130 million with AIG." The Providence Journal 17 Sept. 2008.]

Caprio’s proactive approach to assessing and managing risk has helped ensure that the public funds managed by his office avoid the investment losses now plaguing other states. [Perry, Jack. "Caprio: Steps taken to protect R.I. from banks' turmoil." The Providence Journal 15 Sept. 2008. 6 Oct. 2008 .] In the midst of the 2008 market collapse, Caprio established a financial “SWAT team” of Rhode Island’s top financial minds to ensure the State’s protection from AIG’s collapse. [Peoples, Steve, and Katherine Gregg. "R.I. forms ‘swat team’ to protect $130 million with AIG." The Providence Journal 17 Sept. 2008.]

Divestment from Darfur

In 2007 Caprio led the movement for divestment from Sudan. Caprio made the bill a top priority upon taking office, [Gudrais, Elizabeth. "Darfur divestment returns dividends." The Providence Journal 27 July 2007. 6 Oct. 2008 .] and legislation requiring Rhode Island to divest from companies doing business with the Sudanese government was signed into law on July 26, 2007. ["Rhode Island, Texas, Hawaii and New York Adopt Targeted Sudan Divestment." Sudan Divestment Task Force. 7 Oct. 2007. 3 Oct. 2008 . ] The new law made a bold statement against the companies facilitating genocide in Darfur, while maintaining a sound investment portfolio for Rhode Island. [ Waterman, Meredyth R. "General Assembly approves Sudan divestment." Rhode Island General Assembly. 6 Dec. 2007. 3 Oct. 2008 . ] Because of Rhode Island’s innovative divestment legislation, Caprio was called to testify before the United States Congress regarding federal legislation enabling state divestment from Sudan. ["Hearing Detail." US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. 3 Oct. 2007. US Senate. 6 Oct. 2008 .]

The Environment

Upon becoming Treasurer, Caprio signed on as a member of a national effort by a coalition of investors, state officials and environmental groups petitioning the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require publicly traded companies to assess and disclose the risks they face from global climate change. ["PETITION FOR INTERPRETIVE GUIDANCE ON CLIMATE RISK DISCLOSURE." UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION. 2007. 6 Oct. 2008 ]

CollegeBoundfund

As Treasurer, Caprio has also overseen the CollegeBoundfund, Rhode Island’s 529 college savings plan. Under his leadership, in 2008 the CollegeBoundfund received one of the country’s highest ratings in a national review of college savings vehicles. ["2008 Plan Performance Rankings Q2." Saving for College. 22 Apr. 2008. 6 Oct. 2008 .]

Personal life

Caprio is married to Gabriella (DiGiacinto) Caprio and he has two children, Ashley and Frank II.

References

External links

* [http://www.CaprioTV.com Caprio TV]
* [http://frankcaprio.com/index2.cfm Caprio for General Treasurer] official campaign site