Biography

Frank Caprio was inaugurated General Treasurer of Rhode Island on January 2, 2007.

Vision

First and foremost, Frank Caprio wants the Treasurer's office to be the most user-friendly department in state government. For Treasurer Caprio, “The customer comes first.” The office interacts with over a hundred thousand Rhode Islanders on a regular basis. Technology plays a major role in Caprio's administration.

One new project is to make all state spending information available to the public online. The Treasurer will also work to increase the CollegeBoundfund®, a tax-free college savings fund the State of Rhode Island sponsors. He will also undertake a comprehensive review of the State's employee pension fund, which is beginning to experience the impact of the retirements of the “baby boom” generation.

Education

Caprio attended public schools in Narragansett, Rhode Island and graduated in 1984 from Bishop Hendricken High School, 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 and an All-Ivy League defensive back on the championship Harvard football team of 1987.

Caprio earned a J.D. degree at Suffolk University Law School in 1991 and passed the bar exams in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Policy

A former state senator and representative, Caprio’s seventeen years as a public servant bring experience and strong leadership skills to his role as Treasurer, reflected in his commitment to fiscal responsibility in Rhode Island.  In March 2007, when Wall Street was promoting sub prime mortgage securities, Treasurer Caprio directed the sale of over $1 billion in Rhode Island sub prime investments for full value, avoiding the losses other institutional investors experienced later in 2007. Since taking office, Treasurer Caprio has led the refinancing of outstanding state bonds, resulting in a savings to the state of $4.7 million.

One of the first successes of Treasurer Caprio’s term was passage of legislation requiring Rhode Island’s pension fund to divest from companies doing business in Sudan in an effort to end the financial facilitation of genocide.  The legislation became law on July 26, 2007, marking the culmination of months of effort undertaken by Caprio and his staff. 

The success of this endeavor was evidenced when Rolls Royce, plc, a top investor in Sudan with whom Rhode Island had a major investment, decided to pull out of the region, citing the divestment campaign as the reason.

In August 2007, Caprio joined the treasurers and comptrollers of several other states - including California, Maryland and New York - in signing a petition urging the SEC to require publicly traded companies to assess and disclose the risks they face from global climate change.

In March 2008, Caprio organized Rhode Island’s first summit addressing the financial risks and opportunities involved with climate change, welcoming Richard Sandor, founder and CEO of Chicago Climate Exchange, as the keynote speaker.   Caprio also attracted Warren Buffett’s attention when he aggressively pursued Buffett’s newly created municipal bond insurer to do business in Rhode Island, not just the largest states. Buffett’s response to Caprio was “Rhode Island, here we come.” Additionally, Caprio has initiated structural changes within the Treasury Department as part of his goal to create a user-friendly office.

The result is a newly improved organization providing an efficient source of services and information to the people of Rhode Island.  During the current budget crisis in Rhode Island, Caprio is structuring the Treasury office to achieve significant year-on-year savings.

Public Service

Caprio began his political career while a senior at Harvard, when he was 21 years old. In his political debut, he was elected a delegate from Rhode Island’s Congressional District 2; he attended the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta as a delegate in 1988. In 1990 at 24, 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.

Caprio was elected to the State Senate in 1994 and served there until 2007 when he was sworn in as Rhode Island's General Treasurer. Caprio chaired the Senate Finance Committee in 2001-2002. As chair of the Finance Committee, 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. With Caprio's support, the statewide ballot question passed in 2006 creating the housing fund. Caprio also led the debate on phasing out the state 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.

In an attempt to convert Rhode Island’s government to a more modern political system, Caprio also advocated the passage of the stalled Separation of Powers amendment in 2002. Because of his outspoken advocacy regarding the issue, the former Senate leadership removed him from his post as Chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee; those individuals, however, were themselves removed from office in 2003. The amendment then passed the legislature and went on the state ballot in 2004; Rhode Island voters made it a law with nearly 80% approval. Caprio was also named to chair the Senate Commerce, Housing, and Municipal Government Committee in 2004.

Legal Career

Caprio’s focus as a lawyer was corporate, tax and finance matters. He represented a range of clients throughout his legal career, from local businesses to multinational corporations. He has also worked as an in-house counsel at Cookson Group plc, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange. At Cookson, Caprio was responsible for many of its acquisitions and divestitures in North America.

Personal

Frank T. Caprio is married to Gabriella (DiGiacinto) Caprio and he has two children, Ashley and Frank II. He is the eldest child of Joyce and Judge Frank Caprio, and he is the brother of Rhode Island State Representative David Caprio, John Caprio, Marissa Caprio-Pesce and Paul Caprio.