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.

Moody’s Investors Service announced its highly anticipated new ratings rules, which could result in downgrades for dozens of cities and school districts.
Faced with growing pension gaps, states and localities in recent years have reacted with sweeping reforms.
Kentucky’s pension reform signed into law this month marks a positive step but should not be heralded as a cure-all to the state’s massive underfunding problem, a major ratings agency said Friday.
President Obama's fiscal plan for 2014 contains a mix of tax increases and breaks that some are concerned could mean increased costs for states and localities.
New York’s new law to allow some cities to defer pension payments would increase their unfunded pension liabilities and could hurt their credit outlook.
Cities coming out of the recession are facing new challenges with matching their workforce to available jobs, a problem that could be an early indicator of a growing national problem.
RBC municipal analyst Chris Mauro warns that the boost at the end of 2012 was an anomaly driven by a rush to cash in on capital gains and other income in anticipation of new tax increases in 2013.
Some say the ruling in Stockton, Calif.'s case could lead to a U.S. Supreme Court decision on how bankrupt cities deal with their pension liabilities.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear calls its pension reform “a good solution to a thorny problem." But the state’s local governments are far less impressed.
In the world of public finance, a long-running debate over what’s included in state and local financial statements is reaching new heights.