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Girard Miller

Girard Miller

Finance Columnist

Girard Miller is the finance columnist for Governing. He is a retired investment and public finance professional and the author of “Enlightened Public Finance” (2019). Miller brings 30 years of experience in public finance and investments as a former Governmental Accounting Standards Board member and ICMA Retirement Corp. president.

Miller writes Governing's bi-weekly newsletter on public finance, which you can sign up for here.

He can be reached at millergirard@yahoo.com. 

Borrowing to finance infrastructure is now more expensive. Meanwhile, congressional tax writers are toying with the municipal bond tax exemption, scaring both investors and issuers. State and local debt managers have a lot to think about — and worry about.
Traditional pensions and 401(k)-style government plans have undergone major changes in portfolio structure since 2000, mostly for the better. But recent market gyrations remind us that there are always opportunities for improvement.
Trade wars, federal aid cutbacks and IRS layoffs will all have an impact on revenues, though the shocks may not be as bad as some fear. Still, for most jurisdictions budget and staffing freezes or cuts lie ahead. But for now leaders should resist the temptation to raid rainy day funds.
If sensible ideas from a decade ago gain traction in Washington this year, they could boost U.S.-based manufacturing and international competitiveness, with a mixed impact on state and local tax revenues and policies.
Cutting this unloved levy has again become a flashpoint in some states, once more raising difficult issues of fairness. Here’s what we can learn from decades of tax-limitation laws.
AI’s rapidly advancing offspring will benefit portfolio managers as ever-more-intelligent systems drive better investment results. But that’s just the start.
Important federal deposit insurance rules and possibly its entire regulatory apparatus could come into play in Washington this year. State and local treasurers need to focus on vital public and fiduciary interests.
A combined federal and state effort to redesign the boondoggle-prone economic development program could also provide the blueprint for rebuilding devastated communities.
As 2024 came to a close, the White House and Congress approved big giveaways to two subsets of state and local government employees and pensioners. There could be political backlash, and for equity’s sake there might be a case for some corrective tax policies.
Governors, mayors and finance officers are treading water, awaiting the outcome and impact of a new Washington regime’s vows to slash federal spending and taxes. Meanwhile, state and municipal budgeters and debt managers will need to make intelligent guesses and pay more attention to their rainy-day funds.