Mariana Trujillo
Managing Director, Government Finance, Reason Foundation
Mariana Trujillo is managing director of government finance at Reason Foundation, where she leads research on the fiscal health of federal, state, and local governments.
Her work examines government debt, public pension liabilities, state and local budgeting, and the effects of retirement benefits on public-employee recruitment and retention. She leads Reason Foundation’s Government Finance Dashboard, a national database and interactive research platform covering the finances of states, cities, counties, and school districts.
Trujillo’s research has been cited by The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, The Bond Buyer, and other national publications. Her commentary has appeared in Reason Magazine, Governing, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Hartford Courant, and the Los Angeles Daily News. She has testified before state legislatures and presented her research to policymakers, public-finance professionals, and researchers across the country.
She holds a B.A. in economics from George Mason University and is an alumna of the Stand Together Koch Associate Program and the Mercatus Center’s Schumpeter Fellowship. Before joining Reason Foundation, she interned at JPMorgan, The Mercatus Center, and The Cato Institute.
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Texas property tax relief won’t last unless local governments rein in spending
Recent exemptions may lower tax bills temporarily, but durable relief requires limits on local spending, borrowing, and costs.
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Examining the effect of increasing Texas’ homestead exemption
Texas has taken meaningful steps to reduce homeowners' property tax bills. But effective property tax relief will require more than ever-larger exemptions.
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Debtor Nation 2026: The $40 trillion national debt
President Trump has already surpassed Obama as the president who has overseen the largest real increase in federal debt.
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Lawmakers set to give more lavish pension benefits to California’s highest-paid workers
California Assembly Bill 1383 is a taxpayer-funded handout to highly compensated, long-tenured public employees.
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Ranking the states most and least dependent on the federal government
In some states, federal funds make up a modest share of government revenue, while in others they represent 40% of state and local budgets.
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Connecticut’s pre-K endowment diverts pension dollars
In diverting surplus money away from reducing Connecticut’s pension debt, the funding mechanism for the pre-K endowment may create future financial challenges.
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Data show California does not have a public safety staffing crisis. Public pension reforms should not be rolled back.
Lawmakers should not impose billions of dollars in new pension costs on local governments and taxpayers based on claims of a workforce crisis that the data do not support.
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Cities’ pension dollars are not for building affordable housing
Pension assets should be directed to their most productive and profitable uses, not political interests.
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Webinar: Public pension systems investing in crypto
A recent Reason Foundation webinar explored how public pension systems should evaluate the risks, rewards and transparency of cryptocurrency investments.
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Webinar: Managing the $5 trillion of state and local government debt
A recent Reason Foundation webinar examined how state and local governments can best manage long-term obligations.
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Webinar on managing public debt, plus New York City’s pension gimmick
California proposals would undo pension reforms and increase costs, and Connecticut could divert pension funding to education.
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Mayor Mamdani’s balanced budget miracle is built on a pension gimmick
The mayor's plan will reduce immediate pension debt payments and lead to higher future payments.
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No, New York doesn’t have a public employee recruitment and retention crisis
The state's 2012 pension reform saved its taxpayers $80 billion. Supporters of a rollback point to a recruitment problem—but the data show there isn't one.
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How Connecticut’s pre-K endowment raises pension costs
Connecticut remains the second most indebted state in the nation on a per-capita basis, leaving little margin for deviation from its commitment to debt reduction.
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Proposal would add $14 billion in pension costs in California
Plus: Alaska's teachers need an adequate replacement for Social Security, helping working moms in the public sector, and more.
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How to help working moms in the public sector? Flexible retirement benefits
Portability and flexibility of retirement benefits are especially crucial for the retirement security of working mothers.
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Model legislation for audit requirements for opioid settlement fund recipients
Reason Foundation’s new model legislation extends the single audit framework to opioid settlement fund recipients at the state level.
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States should prioritize private service providers for the opioid settlement funds
By outsourcing service delivery, these funds can stimulate the growth of for-profit and nonprofit organizations that can outlive the settlement.
