As the federal government continues to grow the fiscal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, experts from the government finance sector discuss the newly announced Federal Reserve Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF) and how states, counties, cities, and public agencies could be able to access MLF credit to help offset projected revenue shortfalls.

This special briefing features a panel of experts, including Patrick Brett, managing director and head of Citi’s Municipal Debt Capital Markets and Capital Solutions businesses; Emily Swenson Brock, director of the Government Finance Officers Association’s Federal Liaison Center; Peter Hayes, BlackRock managing director, chief investment officer.

Notable Quotes:

“In terms of the magnitude of the problem, you could easily back into a number of 100-200 Billion in terms of the needs of state and local governments, from a cash flow timing issue and some of the initial revenue losses.” - Patrick Brett

“The market was broken when the first MLF was introduced on April 9th, the secondary market has improved in recent sessions, and the primary market still remains a bit tenuous.” - Peter Hayes

“I can say, in my most recent straw poll with the FAQ 2.0 that just recently came out, that there were no takers on the debt committee.” - Emily Swenson Brock

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Learn more about the Volcker Alliance at: volckeralliance.org

Learn more about Penn IUR at: penniur.upenn.edu

Connect with us @VolckerAlliance and @PennIUR on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Special Briefing is published by the Volcker Alliance, as part of its Public Finance initiatives, and Penn IUR. The views expressed on this podcast are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR.

With the passage of the CARES Act on March 27, 2020, expert panelists convene to discuss how states and localities could tap the massive aid and credit provided to address needs in late spring of 2020. Looking ahead, panelists also outline further the potential need for further aid to keep budgets in balance, preserve essential public services, and prevent critical infrastructure from deteriorating further.

This special briefing features a panel of experts, including Bill Haslam, former governor of Tennessee; Robert P. Inman, Richard K. Mellon Professor Emeritus and professor of finance, economics, and public policy, Wharton School; Stephen Klein, chief fiscal officer of the Vermont Legislature’s nonpartisan Joint Fiscal Office; Joe Torsella, treasurer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Notable Quotes:

“For better or worse, in my view for better, states have been on the frontline of fighting COVID-19, and will remain so. We’ve seen much more of a state-by-state response to this than a national Federal response.” - Joe Torsella

“I think we have a long-term revenue problem as well. We know this is not going to be a V-shaped, and I think to even say it is a U-shaped recovery is optimistic. I think it’s going to be a U that tends a little more towards an L.” - Bill Haslam

“We have about a $433 million revenue loss projected for FY2021, on top of $146 million for this year, and for us that’s about a 17% reduction than what we expected in 2021.” - Stephen Klein (VT)

Be sure to subscribe to Special Briefing to stay up to date on the world of public finance.

Learn more about the Volcker Alliance at: volckeralliance.org

Learn more about Penn IUR at: penniur.upenn.edu

Connect with us @VolckerAlliance and @PennIUR on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Special Briefing is published by the Volcker Alliance, as part of its Public Finance initiatives, and Penn IUR. The views expressed on this podcast are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR.

Experts on state and local public finance join to estimate in April 2020 which cities would be most vulnerable to budgetary shocks resulting from the then just beginning COVID-19 pandemic and the strategies they could employ to see them through crisis and eventual recovery.

This special briefing feature a panel of experts, including Shirley Clarke Franklin, former mayor of Atlanta, Georgia; Mary Murphy, project director for fiscal and economic policy, state fiscal health, The Pew Charitable Trusts; Michael A. Pagano, dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and director of the Government Finance Research Center; Richard A. Ravitch, former New York State Lieutenant Governor, member of the New York City Fair Recovery Taskforce.

Notable Quotes:

“The first, and most important thing for us to do was to communicate straightforwardly, with transparency, with the public and the governing authority of the city council.” - Shirley Clarke Franklin

“Those [cities] that were relatively reliant on sales and income tax, and relatively reliant on the hardest-hit employment sectors Brooking identified, were marked as those that would most likely feel the fiscal impact immediately.” - Michael Pagano

“On the other end of the spectrum, we have states like California who have historically taken a much more hands-off approach when cities fall into fiscal crisis.” - Mary Murphy

“New York City can only survive with massive Federal aid, and doesn’t mean just this very creative program of loans that the Federal Reserve Board has initiated.” - Dick Ravitch

Be sure to subscribe to Special Briefing to stay up to date on the world of public finance.

Learn more about the Volcker Alliance at: volckeralliance.org

Learn more about Penn IUR at: penniur.upenn.edu

Connect with us @VolckerAlliance and @PennIUR on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Special Briefing is published by the Volcker Alliance, as part of its Public Finance initiatives, and Penn IUR. The views expressed on this podcast are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR.

In a Special Briefing hosted by the Volcker Alliance and Penn IUR in the opening days of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts focus on the economic and fiscal scenarios posed by the coronavirus pandemic for US states and municipalities as well as how governments may choose to deploy fiscal reserves to help preserve essential services.

This special briefing features a panel of experts, including Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, special project consultants at the Volcker Alliance, principals of Barrett & Greene Inc.; Scott Pattison, senior fellow at the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy of the University of Ottawa; Dan White, director of government consulting and fiscal policy research at Moody’s Analytics.

Notable Quotes

“State and local governments should be stress testing their budgets for potential changes in the business cycle. That is the most effective way that they have at their disposal to really prepare and survive through a recession without having to make extraordinary fiscal changes.” - Dan White

“This a time to use and not replenish rainy-day funds, but it is worth noting that the states that are in the best shape have actively and consistently adhered to policies from putting money back into their rainy-day funds when it has been removed.” - Katherine Barrett

“Some of the Federal dollars through the stimulus and rainy-day funds will be very helpful, but we can expect furloughs, lay-offs, and across the board budget cuts.” - Scott Pattison

Be sure to subscribe to Special Briefing to stay up to date on the world of public finance.

Learn more about the Volcker Alliance at: volckeralliance.org

Learn more about Penn IUR at: penniur.upenn.edu

Connect with us @VolckerAlliance and @PennIUR on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Special Briefing is published by the Volcker Alliance, as part of its Public Finance initiatives, and Penn IUR. The views expressed on this podcast are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR.

The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research cohost a special briefing discussing the strategies for surmounting the severe fiscal challenges that the coronavirus pandemic is posing for US states and municipalities in April of 2020.

This special briefing features a panel of experts, including Thomas W. Ross, president of the Volcker Alliance, Richard A. Ravitch, former New York State Lieutenant Governor and Volcker Alliance board member, Matt Fabian, partner and head of market and credit research at Municipal Market Analytics.

Notable Quotes:

“The Coronavirus pandemic is making it abundantly clear that the survival and security of people everywhere depends on government.” - Thomas Ross

“What is the mechanism for cutting expenses, who has the power to decide, and how necessary is this to get the political support for otherwise providing what are significantly inflationary remedies to provide for the cash shortfalls to keep essential services functioning?” - Dick Ravitch

“The market has come back quite a bit. It is not where it was surely, and may not ever get back to where it was on March 9th before all of this started, but every day things improve and stabilize.” - Matt Fabian

Be sure to subscribe to Special Briefing to stay up to date on the world of public finance.

Learn more about the Volcker Alliance at: volckeralliance.org

Learn more about Penn IUR at: penniur.upenn.edu

Connect with us @VolckerAlliance and @PennIUR on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Special Briefing is published by the Volcker Alliance, as part of its Public Finance initiatives, and Penn IUR. The views expressed on this podcast are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR.

Special Briefing brings federal, state, and local government leaders together with prominent researchers, economists, and investors to reflect on today’s most salient and critical public finance issues.