David H. Lillard Jr. is an American lawyer, politician and government official. A Republican, he serves as the state treasurer for the state of Tennessee.
In 2009, after Republicans gained control of the Tennessee General Assembly, the legislature elected Lillard as the Tennessee State Treasurer. He was subsequently re-elected to several two-year terms, most recently in January 2017 and January 2019. As state treasurer, Lillard is a member of the state Capitol Commission. In 2017, Lillard voted against the removal of a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the State Capitol; the motion to remove the bust failed on a 7-5 vote. Lillard proposed that "all items in the Capitol" be periodically rotated. As a Confederate Army general during the American Civil War, Forrest massacred hundreds of surrendering Union troops, most of them black; after the war, Forrest was leader of the Ku Klux Klan. In 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests against racism and police brutality, Lillard voted to move the statue from the Capitol to the Tennessee State Museum; the motion passed 9-2. As State Treasurer, Lillard oversees the Tennessee Department of Treasury, which manages the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, the state's pension fund. The Tennessee Treasury also administers Tennessee's 529 plan for college savings ; the Tennessee Financial Literacy Commission; ABLE TN; the state Unclaimed Property Division, and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund. In 2014, Lillard worked with the General Assembly on legislation that required newly state employees to contribute to their pensions, creating a "hybrid plan" that reduced costs; the legislation created a 401 plan and raised the retirement age to receive full benefits from 60 to 65. Lillard supported legislation in 2014 that required local governments in Tennessee that do not participate in TCRS to annually fund 100% of the "actuarially determined annual required contribution." The Tennessee General Assembly unanimously passed the legislation in April 2014. Local governments that participated in TCRS were already required to make 100% contributions. Lillard also served as President of the National Executive Committee of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers through 2017. He is currently a member of the National Association of State Treasurers's Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council.
Personal life
Lillard has a wife, Patricia Newton, and three children. He resides in Shelby County, and he is a member of the United Methodist Church.
