Author Archive

Liz Farmer

Liz Farmer is a fiscal policy expert, award-winning writer and co-host of the Public Money Pod. Her secret sauce is analyzing complicated policy issues and writing about them in ways everyone can understand and her work has appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, and other national publications.
Finance

Should states and localities be worried about the U.S. downgrade?

Or about the possibility of another one amid the budget showdown in Congress? Fitch Ratings’ decision to knock the federal government’s credit rating down a notch last month doesn’t directly affect state and local credit quality. But it’s a warning shot.

Cybersecurity

As cyberattacks grow, cyber insurance is increasingly out of reach for many municipalities

Experts caution that governments need to recalibrate their cyber risk management approaches by emphasizing employee training and taking a whole-of-state approach.

Finance

An emerging ‘greenium’? New research says green bonds cost governments less

Amid an ESG backlash in some states, the finding could lead to more governments seeking an ESG-related label for bonds that will fund socially or environmentally sustainable projects.

Finance

After enacting strict abortion laws, many states are turning to tax breaks for expectant parents

Four states have approved new tax credits or deductions that allow taxpayers to claim unborn children. Nearly a dozen are expected to follow. But do these laws actually help expectant mothers?

Finance

State retirement plans close savings gap and pad bottom lines

Six years ago and millions of dollars since, Oregon launched the first state-sponsored retirement program for private sector workers. Today, 19 states have launched or plan to launch their own savings programs.

Finance

Boosting affordable housing by reclaiming investor-owned properties

As the affordable housing supply gets squeezed, some worry that private equity firms will scoop up more properties.

Finance

Five years after the Wayfair ruling, states' reliance on the sales tax grows

But while the sales tax has brought in billions of dollars for state and local governments, businesses find the patchwork of rules burdensome.

Finance

Minnesota Takes On Corporate Profit Shifting

The state targeted a loophole that companies use to create income tax havens abroad. As overall tax revenue continues to slump, will other states do the same?

Finance

Two Different Funding Approaches to Education Reform

One solution holds that the public school system itself is the problem to be fixed while the other says that targeting money to disadvantaged communities is the answer. Both approaches are expensive and it’s not clear that either work.

Finance

The U.S. Supreme Court Could Upend Local Property Tax Laws

The justices heard a case last week on a Minnesota county's profit on a seized condo. A ruling could change property seizure programs nationwide.

Workforce

How an Auditor Shortage Could Hurt Local Governments

Fewer auditors have led to a lag in financial reporting and is threatening to translate into more costs for governments.

Finance

As States Plan for Next Year’s Budget, the Economy Flashes Mixed Signals

Even with rising inflation and worries about a looming recession, most state budgets are doing better than expected. But there are signs that the slowdown policymakers keep planning for is getting closer.

Finance

Colorado Expands Unemployment Insurance—And Others Are Watching Closely

Colorado’s low-cost approach to getting benefits out the door quickly could provide a model for adapting or modernizing public assistance programs elsewhere.

Finance

How One County Fixed Its Broken Property Tax System

Property taxes are considered the ultimate “fair” tax. But that fairness hinges on the assumption that homes are being assessed accurately, regularly and thoroughly.

Finance

When States Take Over Financially Troubled Local Governments

A recent bankruptcy filing by Chester, Pennsylvania, highlights the limits and difficulties with state programs in dealing with fiscal stress at the municipal level.

Finance

How a Bankrupt City’s Pension System Hit a Breaking Point

The case of Chester, Pennsylvania involves hidden debt, missing documentation and lots of blame. Route Fifty takes a closer look in this second installment of a three-part series.

Finance

A Small City's Descent Into Bankruptcy

"By far the worst that we have encountered," is how one person involved in resolving the fiscal mess described it. This first article in a three-part series, looks at how the troubled city's situation resembles another municipal bankruptcy about a decade ago.

Finance

Real-Time Data on What Muni Bond Investors Think of Your City

A new data tool offers a window into how investors are responding to changes affecting the financial outlook of individual governments, including trends like the rise of remote work.

Finance

Child Care is Broken. Here’s How Governments are Trying to Fix it

From helping fund day care centers, to providing subsidies to care workers and families, states and localities are spending millions on what has become a crisis for the nation and its workforce.

Finance

Borrowing to Backfill Public Pensions Makes a Comeback

Low interest rates made the potentially risky and often criticized practice more attractive. But then the stock market plummeted, complicating the outlook for some places that took on the debt.