Current Director Nia Ray will become Director of Oregon Department of Revenue
JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Jay Nixon today appointed Department of Revenue Deputy DirectorJohn Mollenkamp to serve as acting Director of the Department. Current Director Nia Ray today was named by Oregon Governor Kate Brown to become Director of the Oregon Department of Revenue, effective Oct. 10 and pending confirmation by the Oregon Senate in September.
“Nia’s many years of public service has made state government more efficient and effective for the people of Missouri and I congratulate her on her new position and wish her well on her new endeavors in Oregon,” Gov. Nixon said. “I also want to extend my appreciation to John Mollenkamp for his continued leadership at the Missouri Department of Revenue.”
Gov. Nixon appointed Ray as Missouri Revenue Director in the fall of 2014. Prior to that appointment, Ray served as Director of the Division of Employment Security within the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Ray graduated cum laude from Spelman College in Atlanta, and earned her juris doctor degree from the University of Illinois.
Under Director Ray’s leadership, the Missouri Department of Revenue implemented House Bill 384, which allowed for a one-time opportunity for delinquent taxpayers to pay all back taxes without penalty in Fiscal Year 2016. Through this effort, the Department of Revenue successfully recouped more than $50 million in delinquent payments, funds that allowed the state to expand dental benefits for 282,000 low-income Missourians and provide a 1 percent increase in state Medicaid payments to certain health care providers.
Additionally, Director Ray made detecting and preventing tax fraud a top priority. In 2015, the Missouri Department of Revenue led a collaborative effort between the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), state departments of revenue, and tax software companies to protect taxpayers from identity theft and refund fraud. As a result, in the previous tax year, the Department of Revenue has stopped more than $15 million in fraudulent tax refunds.
“Nia has done a fantastic job leading the Missouri Department of Revenue and has been called upon repeatedly by state leaders to move forward important initiatives,” Gov. Brown said. “I look forward to her expertise and partnership as we work toward an Oregon where each resident can thrive.”
Since joining the Missouri Department of Revenue as Deputy Director in 2011, Mollenkamp also served as acting Director before Ray became Director. Mollenkamp, a native of Rolla, previously was a clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School. He also served as an associate professor of legal writing at the University of Missouri School of Law. Mollenkamp was a Missouri assistant attorney general for several years, and also was in private practice in Joplin. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri and his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law.
