The State Controller is the Chief Financial Officer

Chief financial officer

The chief financial officer or Chief financial and operating officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management...

 of the State of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The post has broader responsibilities and authority than the California State Treasurer

California State Treasurer

The California State Treasurer is responsible for the state's investment and finance. The post has more narrow responsibilities and authority than the California State Controller...

. Responsibilities include investigative authority for every dollar spent by the state, and being an ex-officio member of the state's Board of Equalization

State Board of Equalization (California)

The State Board of Equalization is a public agency charged with tax administration and fee collection in the state of California in the United States. The areas of authority of the Board fall into four broad areas: sales and use taxes, property taxes, special taxes, and acting as an appellate body...

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The State Controller is elected to a four-year term but is limited to two terms. The current state controller is John Chiang

John Chiang (California politician)

John Chiang is a Democratic politician and has been California State Controller since January 8, 2007. He previously served as Chair of the California Board of Equalization and represented the Fourth District, primarily serving southern Los Angeles County...

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Duties

• As the state’s chief fiscal officer, acts as the state’s accountant and bookkeeper of all public funds.

• Administers the state payroll system and unclaimed property laws.

• Serves on 76 boards and commissions, including the Board of Equalization
  State Board of Equalization (California)
  The State Board of Equalization is a public agency charged with tax administration and fee collection in the state of California in the United States. The areas of authority of the Board fall into four broad areas: sales and use taxes, property taxes, special taxes, and acting as an appellate body...
  
  , Franchise Tax Board
  California Franchise Tax Board
  The California Franchise Tax Board collects state personal income tax and corporate income tax of California. It is part of the California State and Consumer Services Agency....
  
  , CalPERS
  CalPERS
  The California Public Employees' Retirement System or CalPERS is an agency in the California executive branch that "manages pension and health benefits for more than 1.6 million California public employees, retirees, and their families"...
  
  , and CalSTRS
  CalSTRS
  The California State Teachers' Retirement System provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits for California's 852,316 prekindergarten through community college educators and their families...
  
  .

• Conducts audits and reviews of state operations. The office performs a multitude of financial audits, compliance audits and attestations. The areas of government audited and reviewed by the State Controller include California School Districts, the California State Lottery, Oil and Gas Lease Royalties, State Agencies, RDAs, and a multitude of local governments. It is considered one of the premiere audit agencies of the State of California.

Staff

The Office has a staff of Deputy State Controllers that help the State Controller fulfill his elected duties, including sitting on the Board of Equalization and other boards for the State Controller in absentia. Noted former Deputy State Controllers include Barrett McInerney, James Burton, Laurette Healey, and Rex Halverson

Rex Halverson

Rex Halverson is a California tax attorney. He served as the California Deputy State Controller between 1995 – 1998 where he represented the California State Controller, Kathleen Connell, on the California Board of Equalization and the California Franchise Tax Board...

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List of California State Controllers

Name	Party	Term
John S. Houston	Democratic California Democratic Party The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the Democratic Party in the state of California, headquartered in Sacramento. It is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton, who succeeded Art Torres in April 2009. It is the majority...	1849–1852
Winslow S. Pierce	Democratic	1852–1854
Samuel Bell Samuel Bell (California) Samuel Bell was a California political figure from Mariposa County. He served as a Democrat in the California State Assembly in 1853 and was Controller of California from 1854 to 1856.#...	Democratic	1854–1856
George W. Whitman	American Party Know Nothing The Know Nothing was a movement by the nativist American political faction of the 1840s and 1850s. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to Anglo-Saxon Protestant values and controlled by...	1856–1857
Edward F. Burton	American Party	1857
George W. Whitman	American Party	1857–1858
Aaron R. Melony	Lecompton Democrat Lecompton Constitution The Lecompton Constitution was the second of four proposed constitutions for the state of Kansas . The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution of James H. Lane and other free-state advocates...	1858–1860
Samuel H. Brooks	Lecompton Democrat	1860–1861
James S. Gillan	Democratic	1861–1862
Gilbert R. Warren	Republican California Republican Party The California Republican Party is the California affiliate of the United States Republican Party. The party chairman is Tom Del Beccaro and is based in Burbank, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. The RPC also has a headquarters in Sacramento....	1862–1863
George R. Oulton	Constitutional Union Constitutional Union Party (United States) The Constitutional Union Party was a political party in the United States created in 1860. It was made up of conservative former Whigs who wanted to avoid disunion over the slavery issue...	1863–1867
Robert Watt	Democratic	1867–1871
James J. Green	Republican	1871–1875
James W. Mandeville	Democratic	1875–1876
William B. C. Brown	Democratic	1876–1877
Daniel M. Kenfield	Republican	1877–1883
John P. Dunn	Democratic	1883–1891
Edward P. Colgan	Republican	1891–1906
A. B. Nye	Republican	1906–1913
John S. Chambers	Republican	1913–1920
Ray L. Riley	Republican	1921–1937
Harry B. Riley	Republican	1937–1946
Thomas Kuchel Thomas Kuchel Thomas Henry Kuchel was a moderate Republican U.S. Senator from California. From 1959 to 1969 he was the minority whip in the Senate, where he was the co-manager on the floor for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.-Biography:Kuchel was born in Anaheim in Orange County,...	Republican	1946–1953
Robert C. Kirkwood Robert C. Kirkwood Robert C. Kirkwood served as a member of the California State Assembly representing part of Santa Clara County from 1947 until 1953, when he resigned to accept an appointment as California State Controller by Governor Earl Warren...	Republican	1953–1959
Alan Cranston Alan Cranston Alan MacGregor Cranston was an American journalist and Democratic Senator from California.-Education:Cranston earned his high school diploma from the old Mountain View High School, where among other things, he was a track star...	Democratic	1959–1967
Houston I. Flournoy Houston I. Flournoy Houston Irving Flournoy was an American politician who served as a California legislator and State Controller...	Republican	1967–1975
Kenneth Cory	Democratic	1975–1987
Gray Davis Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...	Democratic	1987–1995
Kathleen Connell Kathleen Connell Kathleen Connell was the California State Controller from 1995 until 2003. When she was Controller, she:* Ran for mayor of Los Angeles in 2001 but came in 6th in the April 10, 2001 primary getting 24,062 votes ....	Democratic	1995–2003
Steve Westly Steve Westly Steven Paul Westly is an American venture capitalist and politician. He was the State Controller and Chief Financial Officer of California from 2003 to 2007 and was one of the top candidates in the Democratic primary for Governor of California in the 2006 election...	Democratic	2003–2007
John Chiang John Chiang (California politician) John Chiang is a Democratic politician and has been California State Controller since January 8, 2007. He previously served as Chair of the California Board of Equalization and represented the Fourth District, primarily serving southern Los Angeles County...	Democratic	2007–Present

• 2006 Candidates for State Controller

• Will H. Kindig
  Will H. Kindig
  William Harvey Kindig , known as Will H. Kindig or W.H. Kindig, was a candidate for California state controller in 1934, Los Angeles City Council member from 1935 to 1937 and a sponsor of the Ham and Eggs movement for old-age pensions in California in 1939.-Biography:Kindig moved to California...
  
  , candidate for State Controller, 1934