Internet Explorer 11 is not supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.
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.

If Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling later this month, state and local programs could experience massive spending cuts. But the impact depends on a number of factors, experts say.
Jeff DeWitt helped rescue Phoenix financially during the recession. Now he faces new challenges in D.C., if confirmed
In an effort to avoid reporting mandates from the SEC, states are being urged to voluntarily disclose information about their finances in a more formalized way.
Moody's proposes making pension liabilities a bigger factor in bond ratings, which may lead cities to make better financial decisions.
We trust our public employees with taxpayers’ dollars, public resources and essential services -- but does any of that mean they’ll make the right choice for their own retirement?
As services take over the economy, the traditional sales tax has become less helpful to state revenues. Despite several states' failed attempts to tax services, Massachusetts is trying it again.
More stringent accounting practices show state employee pensions combine for an underfunded ratio of 39 percent, according to a new report.
Detroit's bankruptcy rattled the muni bond market when El Paso needed it most.
Hit by tornadoes and earthquakes, Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Greensburg, Kan.; and San Francisco all learned how to turn local tragedy into a new and vibrant vision. Their lessons are a playbook for local officials dealing with disasters.
New leaders at both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board may have big changes in store for the municipal bond market and its issuers.