In our Season 3 finale, we're speaking with Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg. We asked Treasurer Goldberg about some of her state's programs to address economic mobility, including the Office of Economic Empowerment, which Treasurer Goldberg founded. We also talked about how financial education is being taught statewide, how the current interest rate environment affects her approach to investing and reserve funds, and of course, we hear about some of the Treasurer's best unclaimed proper...
Jun 23, 2025•47 min•Season 3Ep. 41
This week, we're joined by Ben Keys, Professor of Real Estate and Finance at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania (and former faculty at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy). We spoke with Ben about a wide variety of issues surrounding the intersection of housing policy, insurance markets, and climate change, including how volatile weather is changing insurer behavior, the role of reinsurance, and what current and future federal policy might mean ...
Jun 09, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 40
This week, we welcome back Jennifer Johnston, Senior Vice President and Director of Municipal Bond Research at Franklin Templeton. We wanted to get a sense for the causes and conditions behind municipal market volatility, including what affects issuer and investor behavior on both the retail and institutional sides of the market. We also talk about how today's volatility compares historically with times such as the Great Recession and Covid, the role of technology in servicing funds, and what ma...
May 26, 2025•50 min•Season 3Ep. 39
This week, we're joined by David Dubrow, Partner at ArentFox Schiff. With the uncertainty surrounding tariffs in recent weeks, how should issuers prepare for contingencies, and what effects might we expect on prices, trade, and economic growth? David talks to us about all of this and more, including how mutual funds have been impacted, as well as stagflation and which sectors of the muni market are especially vulnerable to this phenomenon. In Ripped from the Headlines, we break down the US trade...
May 19, 2025•47 min•Season 3Ep. 38
This week, we're speaking with Angela Rollins, Director of Financial Empowerment for the City of Rochester, NY. As someone who is working at the intersection of personal finance and public finance, we wanted to ask Angela about how individual-focused financial empowerment programs help both resident economic mobility as well as the overall financial health of the city. We learn about some of the programs in place to help residents attain financial freedom such as the Summer of Opportunity Progra...
Apr 28, 2025•45 min•Season 3Ep. 37
Climate change is a reality of our world, but are we thinking effectively about addressing our challenges? To find out, we sat down with Spencer Glendon, Founder of Probable Futures. We asked Spencer to tell us about what we often get wrong when thinking about climate adaptation, mitigating financial risk tied to high-risk weather events, and what kinds of public infrastructure investments we should expect to see in the future. In Ripped from the Headlines, we discuss an article that surveyed Am...
Apr 21, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 36
When severe weather moves in, having accurate, real-time data is crucial. This extends to the muni market, where up-to-date analytics can help localities understand the exposure risks of their assets to extreme weather events. We sat down this week with Larry Lawrence, Head of ICE Climate, and Phoebe Devries, Senior Manager at ICE Climate, to better understand the methodology and technology behind monitoring and predicting the impact of severe weather on municipals, and how this helps localities...
Apr 14, 2025•59 min•Season 3Ep. 35
On this week's episode, we're live at the ICMA conference in Milwaukee, Wis., where we spoke to David Schmiedicke, Finance Director for the City of Madison, Wis.; and William Jones, City Administrator of Mequon, Wis. With a conference focus on reimagining local government, we wanted to get Dave and Will's thoughts on financial resilience, building community trust, what the future looks like for local governments, and so much more.
Apr 07, 2025•59 min•Season 3Ep. 34
What do James Earl Jones and free verse poetry have to do with a sewer district in Ohio? Sewage and stormwater fans might know we're talking about the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD). Their social media pages feature some next-level public utility memes, but perhaps there's a deeper purpose here? Join us as we talk to John Gonzalez, Senior Manager of Communications at NEORSD, about the importance of effective communication by public utility providers and the ways in which his tea...
Mar 31, 2025•47 min•Season 3Ep. 33
In this week's episode, we're talking to Dr. Marguerite Roza, Professor and Director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. We asked Dr. Roza to help distill the complex state-level funding formulas that determine where and how education dollars are directed, and the highly localized decisions that school districts make in spending the funds they receive. We also talked about post-pandemic trends in education, including an imbalance in staffing and enrol...
Mar 17, 2025•55 min•Season 3Ep. 32
This week, we spoke with Caitlin Lewis, Executive Director of Work for America. Amid large-scale reductions in the federal workforce, we asked about what state and local governments are doing to attract these talented public servants, and how programs like Civic Match are helping these workers find new positions. We also discuss the true extent of the federal workforce across all facets of life, and what is lost when we privatize the public sector. In Ripped from the Headlines, we talk about how...
Mar 10, 2025•55 min•Season 3Ep. 31
Government efficiency is a trendy topic these days, but Eric Schnurer, president of Public Works LLC, has dedicated his career to it. We wanted to speak to an expert on what it looks like to assess state and local government performance and spending. He shares examples of his approach and makes the case for why it's worth investing the time in speaking directly to employees, and how that leads to better short- and long-term government performance. In Ripped from the Headlines, we discuss a story...
Feb 17, 2025•57 min•Season 3Ep. 30
It's no secret that the pandemic changed our commuting patterns and how we use transit. How have transit systems found success in re-gaining ridership and financing capital improvement projects? We sat down with MTA CFO Kevin Willens, who talked to us about how the MTA has navigated a wide array of strategies, including mitigating fare and toll evasion and balancing its budget through 2026. We also asked about congestion pricing and what the early data can tell us about its potential to be rolle...
Feb 10, 2025•54 min•Season 3Ep. 29
On the heels of a dizzying week in which the White House ordered—then rescinded—a freeze on federal funds, we wanted to discuss what this all could mean for state and local governments. To help us make sense of it all, we're thrilled to welcome Carolyn Bourdeaux, former U.S. Representative from Georgia's 7th district and Senior Visiting Scholar at the University of Georgia School of Public & International Affairs; Lisa Washburn, Chief Credit Officer and Managing Director at Municipal Market ...
Jan 31, 2025•47 min•Season 3Ep. 28
We kick off our 100th episode with some Public Money Pod trivia! Then, we speak to Bill Fulton, Founder of the William Fulton Group. With an extensive background in urban planning and economic development, Bill talks to us about connecting fiscal policy and urban planning, the role of "place" in promoting community development, and rethinking how we utilize real estate in a post-pandemic world. We also talk to Bill about the potential fiscal and policy impacts of the Los Angeles wildfires. In Ri...
Jan 20, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 27
This week, we welcome back to the pod Joshua Franzel, Senior Executive and Director of Research & Data Analysis at the National League of Cities (NLC), as well as one of our first ever guests from Season 1. We talk about NLC's recent centennial tour, which wrapped in November 2024 after touring 130 cities across the country. We also discuss the NLC's City Fiscal Conditions Report, along with how NLC works to improve communications and foster civil discourse between elected officials and thei...
Jan 13, 2025•42 min•Season 3Ep. 26
We're joined this week by Hartford, Connecticut Mayor Arunan Arulampalam. We spoke with Mayor Arulampalam about the challenges Hartford faces as a mid-sized city that serves a much larger metro area, along with growing Hartford's tax base and funding public health and violence prevention programs. We also asked the mayor about the post-Covid challenge of utilizing downtown commercial real estate, including the complexities of converting office spaces for residential and other uses. In Ripped fro...
Jan 06, 2025•48 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Happy New Year, Public Money Pod listeners! We've got a special bonus episode to kick off 2025, where we're sharing never-before-aired clips from some of our Season 3 interviews. You'll hear excerpts from our conversations with: Dr. Angie Flick (Director of Finance, City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska) Abhi Nemani (Senior Vice President of Product Strategy, Euna Solutions) Casey Lozar (Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and Director of the Center for Indian Country Development) V...
Jan 02, 2025•50 min•Season 3Ep. 24
In this week's episode, we speak to Dr. Whitney Afonso, Professor of Public Administration and Government at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government. We discuss state and local sales tax policy and issues and considerations surrounding the creation of such policy, including understanding the tax base, exporting tax burden and sales tax leakage, "cross-border" shopping, and the economic incidence and revenue generation of expanding the tax base. In Ripped from the Hea...
Dec 30, 2024•59 min•Season 3Ep. 23
We're joined this week by Tom Kozlik, Head of Public Policy & Municipal Strategy at Hilltop Securities. He helps us unpack what kinds of tax reform and policies we might expect to see in the incoming Trump administration, including the renewal of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the future of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction and the municipal bond tax exemption. He also talks to us about the implications of one-party control in the next administration and the end of the Golden Age of Pu...
Dec 09, 2024•57 min•Season 3Ep. 22
This week, we spoke to Andrew Kleine, Managing Director of Government and Public Sector at Ernst & Young. He told us about his work with outcome-based budgeting and how local governments can use this process to prioritize programs and outcomes that are more responsive to the needs of their communities. We also discussed the upcoming post-ARPA fiscal landscape and how cities can prepare for a transition away from pandemic-era funding. In Ripped from the Headlines, we discuss the end of the Fe...
Dec 02, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 21
We're joined this week by Vijay Kapoor, Chief of Staff to the Receiver for the City of Chester, Pennsylvania. He talked to us about his background working with municipalities facing fiscal distress, and how his staff is taking a comprehensive approach to receivership in Chester, especially with their efforts to monetize the Chester Water Authority while still keeping it in the hands of the public. In Ripped from the Headlines, we delve into a piece from our very own Liz Farmer ( Long Story Short...
Nov 18, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 20
This week, we talk to Findlay, Ohio Mayor Christina Muryn, who has established herself as a "continuous improvement mayor" through the time, effort, and capital she has dedicated to improving operations. We wanted to get some insight into what has been successful for her city, and why a mid-sized city such as Findlay is a great place to implement and make adjustments to a continuous improvement strategy. In Ripped from the Headlines, we discuss a recently signed Capital Infrastructure Plan in Lo...
Nov 11, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 19
In the past month, the southeastern United States has been hit by two highly destructive storms: Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. This week, we sat down with a true expert in emergency management, Steve Hagerty, Founder and President of Hagerty Consulting, to tell us about the role of public finance in disaster preparedness and emergency management in the aftermath of disasters. With significant experience in disaster response stretching back to the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Steve tells...
Oct 21, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Few localities in the United States must consider glacial outburst flooding when strategizing about natural hazard mitigation, and fewer still have no roads into or out of their city. But such distinct features are a part of the everyday public finance landscape for our first-ever guest from the Last Frontier, Dr. Angie Flick, Director of Finance for the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska. She joins us this week to discuss the unique characteristics of public finance in Juneau, natural disaster ...
Oct 14, 2024•51 min•Season 3Ep. 17
This week, we talk to Abhi Nemani, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Euna Solutions. He tells us about the role technology can play in helping local governments better connect their priorities to the budgeting process, addressing human capital challenges in the public sector, and how the private sector can help scale innovation in local government. In Ripped from the Headlines, we turn to Sarasota County, Fla. as a case study for how local governments can leverage tax incentives, reba...
Oct 07, 2024•56 min•Season 3Ep. 16
This week, we're joined by Casey Lozar, Vice President at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and Director of the Center for Indian Country Development. He tells us about the policy work he has done to ensure that Tribal Nations are not overlooked in public finance, and how the Survey of Native Nations addresses some of the challenges inherent in meaningful data collection. In Ripped from the Headlines, we discuss the impact of recent federal funding to address energy needs among Tribal Nati...
Sep 30, 2024•52 min•Season 3Ep. 15
We've heard before about rethinking the 40-hour work week, but what effects could a redesigned work week have on productivity, morale, and public safety? Join us this week in our conversation with Scott Vargo, City Manager of Golden, Colorado, as he tells us about how his city piloted a compressed work week for its police department and the outcomes they observed. In Ripped from the Headlines, we look at how the Manatee County (Florida) Sheriff's Office addressed a sharp staffing shortage by aud...
Sep 23, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 14
This week we're joined by Joel Black, chair of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). He talks to us about the GASB and the important work it does for state and local governments. We also discuss recent research at the GASB, areas for improvement in financial reporting, and what we can expect from the GASB in the future. In Ripped from the Headlines, we examine why a high percentage of large government IT projects aren't successfully implemented, and the landscape of "intangible ass...
Sep 16, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Local government may not be synonymous with "blockchain technology," but our guest this week, Eric Mason, CFO of Quincy, Mass., shows us just how useful Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) can be for local municipal finance. He shares with us the benefits he has seen in his city from this technology, and why this proactive government innovation has fostered greater efficiency and equity, allowing people to invest in their own community. In Ripped from the Headlines, we look at some more examples...
Sep 09, 2024•44 min•Season 3Ep. 12
