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Brought to you by Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance, Special Briefing examines the fiscal conditions of cities, counties, and states since the arrival of COVID-19 and how they are impacted by decisions from Washington.
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Special Briefing Series Online
February 20, 2025
Special Briefing: The New Administration’s First Month

The first Special Briefing of 2025 will offer a deep dive into the new President’s first month and the implications of new policies.

Mark Zandi Carolyn Bourdeaux Jeffrey Holland Eric Kim Vikram Rai Torsten Slok William Glasgall Susan Wachter
State & Local Finance
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Displaying 21 - 39 of 39
Displaying 21 - 39 of 39
Podcasts September 25, 2024 Special Briefing: Revitalizing Downtowns by Turning Offices Into Homes With working from home persisting even as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, the Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research hosted an online Special Briefing on Revitalizing Downtowns by Turning Offices Into Homes. Attracting more people back to center cities to live as well as work is the key to increasing street life, bolstering commerce, and preventing further losses in municipal property and sales tax revenues.   William Glasgall Susan Wachter Maria Torres-Springer Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh Amy Cotter Heather Long
Podcasts September 25, 2024 Special Briefing: Managing Growth in America's Hottest States, Counties & Cities The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research invite you to join an online Special Briefing on how America’s hottest growth cities and states are facing challenges as they deploy resources to handle the recent pickup of domestic and international immigration to the South and West. US Census data show that Texas and Florida showed a net gain of almost 1 million residents in 2022; they and the rest of the ten fastest-growing states added a total of 1.6 million people. Will this influx help keep these states out of recession? What are the budgetary demands on infrastructure, housing, public safety, education, and the environment, and how will governments tap into recent federal infrastructure legislation?  William Glasgall Susan Wachter Matthew D. Chase Darryl Martin Anna Roach Steve Adler Alex Adams
Podcasts September 25, 2024 Special Briefing: Avoiding Municipal Distress The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research invite you to join an online Special Briefing on avoiding municipal distress. While the US unemployment rate is near a record low and $5 trillion in federal pandemic aid continuing to support the economy, American cities are enjoying healthy budget surpluses as COVID-19 recedes. But many of the underlying contributors to municipal distress and bankruptcy in the 2010s—underfunded pensions, deteriorating infrastructure, and population loss among them—still pose threats to many cities’ long-term fiscal health. Susan Wachter William Glasgall Richard Ratvich Stephanie A. Miner David N. Schleicher Rob Dubow Heather Gillers
Podcasts September 25, 2024 Special Briefing: The Debt Ceiling Deal and its Impact on the US Economy, States, and Municipalities The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research hosted an online Special Briefing on fallout for the US economy, states, and municipalities from the recent deal to raise the federal debt ceiling.  William Glasgall Susan Wachter Matt Fabian Marcia Howard Annie Linskey Vikram Rai Torsten Slok
Podcasts September 24, 2024 Special Briefing: The Future of Mass Transportation as US Pandemic Aid Nears an End The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) invite you to join an online Special Briefing on the outlook for mass transportation across the US amid waning federal pandemic emergency aid and lagging ridership as metropolitan area commuters continue to work from home. The Special Briefing will include a remembrance of our great friend and colleague, Richard Ravitch, the former New York State lieutenant governor, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman, Volcker Alliance director, and tireless advocate for fiscally sustainable state and local budgeting, who passed away on June 25. 
Podcasts September 18, 2024 Special Briefing: Recession? Soft Landing? … Impact on States and Cities The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) invite you to join an online Special Briefing focusing on whether Federal Reserve moves to slow inflation may result in a recession or soft landing in coming months and how states and localities may be impacted. William Glasgall Susan Wachter
Podcasts September 18, 2024 Special Briefing: Rolling Out the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act—What’s Being Built and What’s in the Pipeline The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research invite you to an online Special Briefing on how the rollout of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is proceeding. A critical part of legislation passed by Congress to combat the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and enhance the durability and sustainability of the nation's infrastructure, the bipartisan deal promises thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars for roads, bridges, public transportation, water systems, and broadband access. Through July, the value of highway and bridge construction work was running 24 percent ahead of the 2020-2021 pace, American Road & Transportation Builders data show. But there are bottlenecks as well, and the process of applying for federal grants is confusing, especially for smaller governments. Our panel of experts will sort this out and explain where infrastructure construction is headed.  William Glasgall Susan Wachter Earl Blumenauer Dr. Alison Premo Black Leah Brooks Jessica Jennings Vikram Rai Samantha Silverberg
Podcasts September 18, 2024 Special Briefing: Public Pensions - Still a Crisis? Many states, counties, and cities emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession with record cash reserves following the US government's injection of $5 trillion to revive the economy and prop up local government budgets. But even after the unprecedented federal support, states and municipalities have been left with more than $1.3 trillion in unfunded liabilities for public employee pension benefits that were promised but are not fully funded. Join our panel of experts as they discuss strategies that state and local governments are adopting to reduce this pension burden and whether they may have to reduce spending for education, infrastructure, and other critical public services to make room for increasing retirement contributions.Our panel of experts will include Liz Farmer, public finance journalist and co-host of the Public Money podcast; Vedanta Goenka, senior municipal strategist, Citigroup; Merl Hackbart, professor emeritus, Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Kentucky; Shoaib Khan, director, New Jersey Treasury Division of Investment; Anthony Randazzo, executive director, Equable Institute; and Les Richmond, vice president and actuary, Build America Mutual. William Glasgall Susan Wachter Liz Farmer Vedanta Goenka Dr. Merl Hackbart Shoaib Khan Anthony Randazzo Les Richmond
Podcasts September 13, 2024 Special Briefing: Public Pensions - Still a Crisis? Many states, counties, and cities emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession with record cash reserves following the US government's injection of $5 trillion to revive the economy and prop up local government budgets. But even after the unprecedented federal support, states and municipalities have been left with more than $1.3 trillion in unfunded liabilities for public employee pension benefits that were promised but are not fully funded. Join our panel of experts as they discuss strategies that state and local governments are adopting to reduce this pension burden and whether they may have to reduce spending for education, infrastructure, and other critical public services to make room for increasing retirement contributions. William Glasgall Susan Wachter
Podcasts September 13, 2024 Special Briefing: 2024 Fiscal Outlook for States and Cities For America’s states and municipalities, 2024 is likely to bring long-awaited relief from inflation and higher interest rates while presenting challenges—and not just because it’s a presidential election year. States, cities, and counties will have to contend with the imminent end of $350 billion in federal pandemic budget aid even as the revenue boom of recent years cools and the need for increased spending to ameliorate the risks of a changing climate put pressure on infrastructure spending. Join our panel of experts as they discuss strategies that state and local governments are adopting to meet these challenges. William Glasgall Susan Wachter Clarence Anthony Kim Norton Mark Ferrandino Eric Kim Mark Zandi
Podcasts September 13, 2024 Special Briefing: America's Hot Growth States Western and southern states including Idaho and Florida were among those growing the fastest from the eve of the pandemic in 2019 through 2022. But there were some surprises as well, with Delaware, Maine, and New Jersey also joining the Census Bureau’s hot growth list. While the ability of many Americans to move to low-tax states and work from home played a large role in the population shift, other factors may have been at play as well. Meanwhile, rapid population expansion will pose challenges in many of these states as they cope with enlarging school systems, updating infrastructure, and preparing communities for the impact of extreme weather conditions. Our expert panel will explore these issues and what they may portend for state and local finances. William Glasgall Susan Wachter Philip D. Murphy Alex Adams Tom Doe Torsten Slok Dr. Shatakshee Dhongde
Podcasts September 12, 2024 Special Briefing: America's $900 Billion Water Crisis While the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $50 billion to upgrade America’s drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems, much more will be needed to address the nation’s water infrastructure needs amid a changing climate and shifts in population.  Susan Wachter William Glasgall Howard Neukrug Reese Tisdale Nicole Lick Doug Evanson William W. Bradley
Podcasts September 10, 2024 Special Briefing: Doom Loop or Boom Loop—Work from Home and the Challenges Facing US Cities Ever since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US in 2020 led to a surge in people working from home, New York and other big cities have been forced to reckon with the possibility of a Doom Loop scenario of vacant offices and flagging economies. But given the right set of policies, cities can reverse their fortunes and embark upon a path to a Boom Loop of greater productivity and economic growth. Join Special Briefing as the authors of the Volcker Alliance issue paper, Doom Loop or Boom Loop: Work from Home and the Challenges Facing America’s Big Cities, and an expert panel discuss the future economic impacts of remote work. William Glasgall Susan Wachter David Stanek Richard Voith Jose Maria Barrero Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh Kathryn Wylde
Podcasts September 10, 2024 Special Briefing: State Tax Breaks On this episode of Special Briefing, experts discuss the latest Volcker Alliance issue paper, Benefit or Burden: Evaluating $1 Trillion in State Tax Expenditures. Susan Wachter William Glasgall Matt Fabian Jonathan Ball Arlene Martinez Tim Bartik
Podcasts May 13, 2024 Special Briefing: State Tax Cuts With their revenues and cash reserves at record highs after unprecedented federal aid to offset the impact of COVID-19, dozens of states embarked on the biggest wave of tax cuts in decades, slashing levies by at least $124 billion on everything from personal income to groceries and gasoline. Join our next Special Briefing as the authors of the forthcoming Volcker Alliance issue paper, State Tax Cuts after the Pandemic: Strategies to Sustain Fiscal Health, and an expert panel discuss whether these reductions can be sustained as revenues have begun to weaken despite the strong US economy.  William Glasgall Susan Wachter Can Chen Alex Hathaway Geoffrey Buswick Natalie Cohen
Podcasts October 31, 2023 Special Briefing on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Clean Water, Better Broadband, Resilience, and Equity The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research held a Special Briefing on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill under consideration. Our expert panel focused on America’s needs for investment in clean water and wider access to broadband Internet service in states, cities, and counties.  William Glasgall Howard Neukrug Susan Wachter Ras J. Baraka Kathryn de Wit Thomas Hazlett
Podcasts December 16, 2021 Special Briefing on State and City Spending of Federal Infrastructure Funds The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research hosted a Special Briefing on state and city spending of federal infrastructure funds contained in the recent enacted infrastructure bill as well as the American Rescue Plan Act.  William Glasgall Susan Wachter Patrick J. Brett Rebecca Rhynhart Earl Blumenauer David Glick
Podcasts October 21, 2021 Special Briefing on the Biden Infrastructure Plan: Unmet Needs and State of Play The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research cohosted a Special Briefing on President Biden’s infrastructure plan and the unmet needs of US states and municipalities. Our expert panel included Carolyn Coleman, Executive Director and CEO of the League of California Cities; Andrew F. Haughwout, Senior Vice President and Policy Leader for Household and Regional in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Research and Statistics Group; Annie Linskey, White House Reporter for the Washington Post; and Torsten Slok, Chief Economist for Apollo Global Group.   Susan Wachter William Glasgall Carolyn Coleman Andy Haughwout Annie Linskey Torsten Slok
Podcasts December 10, 2020 Special Briefing on Working with the Cares Act and What May Come Next The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research cohosted an online Special Briefing featuring an expert panel discussing the lessons states and localities have learned from the Cares Act passed earlier this year and what may be in store in the fight against COVID-19 and its fiscal fallout as 2021 approaches.  William Glasgall Susan Wachter Carolyn Bordeaux Julie Demuth Mark Funkhouser Fitzroy Lee Brandon McComas Richard Ratvich

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