Latest
-
Pension Reform Newsletter: New Mexico Enacts Pension Reform, Coronavirus Compounds Pension Debt, and More
Plus: How alternative investments may pose challenges to pension funding, analysis of Arizona's growing municipal pension debt, and more.
-
Mass Transit Stimulus Spending Should Be Limited to Providing Operations, Focus on Transit-Dependent Riders
Federal lawmakers should specify a ceiling for total stimulus aid and provide monthly payments based on a calculation of the passenger revenue lost and the extra cleaning costs incurred by each system.
-
Proposal to Ban All Tobacco Products Wouldn’t Help New York Fight Coronavirus
The scientific case for the prohibition of all tobacco products in response to the coronavirus pandemic remains weak, and for e-cigarettes it is non-existent.
-
Map: Comparing State Pension Plans’ Assumed Rates of Return
This visualization shows how states have been gradually adjusting their assumed rates of return down to more realistic levels.
-
Privatization and Government Reform Newsletter: Private Sector’s Recovery Role in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Plus: government's coronavirus response, the pandemic's impact on bond ratings, why state and local governments are fighting over Airbnb, and more.
-
COVID-19’s Economic Fallout Wreaks Havoc on Education Budgets
Policymakers and schools need to start preparing now for a new fiscal reality.
-
President Trump and Federal Agencies Botched Initial Coronavirus Response — Bailouts Will Make It Worse
Private businesses should not be operating under the premise that in a financial downturn, or even a crisis, they’ll quickly be bailed out by the federal government.
-
How California’s Schools Can Best Adapt During Coronavirus Pandemic
Whether we like it or not, California’s homeschool population essentially jumped from 2.4 percent to almost 100 percent of school-aged children in a matter of weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
-
To Fight COVID-19, Governments Smartly Remove Bureaucratic Health Care Regulations, Unnecessary Licensing Restrictions
These restrictive, unnecessary policies aren’t just a problem during pandemics, they limit access to health care every day.
-
How Pension Debt Is Driving Rising Costs for Arizona’s Municipal Governments
This series of briefs explores the impact the Arizona State Retirement System and state’s Public Safety Personnel Retirement System have on city and county budgets in Arizona.
-
The Airlines and Boeing Don’t Deserve Special Treatment In Coronavirus Stimulus Bill
Taxpayers should not be put at financial risk by lending their money to poorly-run businesses.
-
In Early Stages of Coronavirus Fight, the Private Sector Was Ready to Help, But the Federal Government Didn’t Let It
Instead of quickly tapping the private sector to develop and conduct tests, the federal government prevented it from doing so. Weeks, and lives, were lost as a result.
-
Moody’s Considers New Mexico Pension Reform Credit Positive
Pension reforms "will reduce state and participating local governments’ unfunded pension liabilities and susceptibility to investment return volatility.”
-
COVID-19 and the Economic Impacts on California’s Pension Systems and School Districts
Despite more than a decade-long period of sustained economic growth and increased tax revenues, many California cities have still been having difficulties balancing their budgets due to rising pension costs.
-
Governments Eliminate Burdensome Marijuana Regulations in Response to Coronavirus Crisis
Regulators have quickly enacted some changes that make it easier for medical patients and recreational consumers alike to purchase marijuana without coming into close contact with large groups of people.
-
Amicus Brief: Jessop v. City of Fresno
"Now, not only can officials seize and retain personal property with little judicial oversight under the guise of civil asset forfeiture; law enforcement also can outright steal personal property for their own use with impunity and without fear of civil liability. "
-
Coronavirus and Shelter-in-Place Order Puts Bay Area Rapid Transit System in Financial Jeopardy
Ridership was already declining and now the government shelter-in-place order is slashing BART's revenues and threatening its bond ratings.
-
Massachusetts’ Legislature Should Help Gov. Baker Make Good on Pension Promises
Gov. Baker is right to push for public pension contribution increases in his budget, but elected officials in Massachusetts need to understand that this should be just the start of pension reforms.
