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liz-farmer

Liz Farmer

Liz Farmer, who formerly covered fiscal policy as a Governing staff writer, helps lead the Pew Charitable Trusts’ state fiscal health project’s Fiscal 50 online resource, focusing on budgets, fiscal distress, tax policy and pensions. A former research fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Future of Labor Research Center, Farmer holds a bachelor’s degree in American history, film and television production from George Washington University and a master’s in journalism from the University of Maryland.

The Fitch Ratings agency has panned Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposal to save Detroit’s pension fund, calling it “troubling” for bondholders.
This week's roundup of money (and other) news that governments can use touches on the California drought, college sports and more.
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has spent this week on the defensive after he was quoted harshly criticizing Detroit in a controversial New Yorker article.
In 2012, the federal government issued $5.2 billion in tax refunds to people who falsified their identity. Georgia found a way to keep that money out of scammers’ pockets.
These buzzwords can instill fear and trepidation in even the most progressive and tech-savvy public officials, but open information really does improve how cities operate.
Failure to understand financial outcomes is more dangerous to states and localities than ever, and there’s a big gap between what public leaders know about finance and what they need to know.
This week's roundup of money (and other) news that governments can use touches on on the muni market rebound, California's grooviness and more.
During this year's State of the States address, governors continued their push for more control over their economic futures.
A grassroots organization plans to give away abandoned houses to writers who agree to move to the bankrupt city and boost its arts community and economy. So far, it's not costing the city a dime.
This week's roundup of money (and other) news that governments can use touches on fiscal health predictions, marijuana money, tax heroes and more.