Federal Fiscal & Tax Policy
Beyond tax credits: A path to meaningful paid family leave
The annual Municipal Finance Conference brings together academics, practitioners, issuers, and regulators to discuss recent research on municipal capital markets and state and local fiscal issues. The conference is a joint venture of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution, the Rosenberg Institute of Global Finance at Brandeis International Business School, the Mitch Daniels School of Business at Purdue University, the Harris School of Public Policy at University of Chicago, and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at University of Texas at Austin. The 2025 conference will primarily be held in person, with livestream options for remote viewers, on July 22 and 23 at 1777 F St. NW.
*Draft agenda can be found below. The deadline to register for in-person attendance is July 12. Drop-ins will NOT be allowed. This event is free of charge.
Agenda
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July 22
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DAY 1: Tuesday, July 22
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Breakfast/Registration opens
8:45 am - 9:15 am
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Welcome remarks
9:15 am - 9:20 am
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Paper session 1
9:20 am - 10:30 am
“Assessing Assessors”
Authors: Huaizhi Chen (University of Notre Dame) and Lauren Cohen (Harvard Business School)
“Do State and Local Governments Offer Competitive Compensation?”
Authors: Byron Lutz (Federal Reserve Board), David Ratner (Federal Reserve Board), and Louise Sheiner (The Brookings Institution)
Discussant: Michael Nadol (Clay Street Perspectives)
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Break
10:30 am - 10:45 am
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Paper session 2
10:45 am - 11:55 am
“A Comparison of Transaction Costs for Municipal Securities and Other Fixed-Income Securities”
Authors: Simon Wu and Nicholas Ostroy (Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board)
Discussant: Brad Wendt (Charles River Associates)
“Can Machine Learning Algorithms Better Help Predict Fiscal Stress in Local Governments?”
Authors: Can Chen (Georgia State University), Chaowang Ren (Georgia State University), Yilun Zha (Georgia Institute of Technology), and Yuxiang Zhao (Georgia Institute of Technology)
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Lunch break
11:55 am - 12:45 pm
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Panel 1: Congestion pricing
12:45 pm - 1:45 pm
Panelists: Kirsten Chalke (Jefferies), Baye Larsen (Moody’s Investors Service), Alexander Zaman (Morgan Stanley), and Ben Zou (Purdue University)
Moderator
Richard Ryffel Professor of Practice & Executive Director of Business Leadership - Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue University -
Paper session 3
1:45 pm - 2:55 pm
“Pricing Climate Risks: Evidence from Wildfires and Municipal Bonds”
Authors: Woongchan Jeon, Lint Barrage, and Kieran James Walsh (ETH Zurich)
Discussant: Erika Smull (Breckinridge)
“Up in Smoke: The Impact of Wildfire Pollution on Healthcare Municipal Finance”
Authors: Luis Lopez (University of Illinois at Chicago), Dermot Murphy (University of Illinois at Chicago), Nitzan Tzur Ilan (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas), and Sean Wilkoff (University of Nevada, Reno)
Discussant: Brian McCartan (Ceres)
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Break
2:55 pm - 3:10 pm
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Paper session 4
3:10 pm - 4:20 pm
“Rising Water, Lowering Tax: The Impact of Hurricane Sandy on Property Tax Assessment in New York City”
Authors: Wei Guo (RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment, Italy), Qing Miao (Rochester Institute of Technology), Yusun Kim (Seoul National University), and Yilin Hou (Syracuse University)
Discussant: Francesco Ruggieri (University of Chicago)
“Navigating Structural Change: Evidence from Municipal Finances and Bond Market Pricing During the Coal Transition”
Authors: Marcelo Ochoa and Andreas Rapp (Federal Reserve Board)
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Panel 2: The view from City Hall
4:20 pm - 5:20 pm
Panelists: Steve Adler (Former Mayor of Austin, TX), Cavalier Johnson (Mayor of Milwaukee, WI), and Christina Muryn (Mayor of Findlay, OH)
Moderator
David Wessel Director - The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Senior Fellow - Economic Studies @davidmwessel -
Cocktail reception
5:20 pm - 6:30 pm
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DAY 2: Wednesday, July 23
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July 23
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Breakfast/Registration opens
8:00 am - 8:30 am
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Opening remarks
8:30 am - 8:35 am
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Paper session 5
8:35 am - 9:45 am
“Dealer Quid Pro Quo in the Municipal Bond Market”
Authors: Casey Dougal (Florida State University), Daniel Rettl (University of Georgia), and Vas Yakimenko (University of Georgia)
Discussant: Ivan Ivanov (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago)
“Financial Innovation, Investor ESG Preferences, and the Cost of Public Debt”
Authors: Daniel Garrett (University of Pennsylvania Wharton School), Brian Gibbons (Oregon State University), and Mahdi Shahrabi (University of Pennsylvania)
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Break
9:45 am - 10:00 am
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Paper session 6
10:00 am - 11:10 am
“Unauthorized Immigration and Local Government Finances”
Authors: Kimberly Cornaggia (Pennsylvania State University), Jess Cornaggia (Pennsylvania State University), and Ryan Israelsen (Michigan State University)
Discussant: Wendy Edelberg (The Brookings Institution)
“Municipal Finance and Labor Mobility”
Authors: Pengjie Gao (University of Notre Dame) and Xiaodan Gao (Renmin University of China)
Discussant: Ron Giammarino (University of British Columbia)
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Panel 3: Impact of Trump presidency on state and local governments
11:10 am - 12:10 pm
Panelists: Mark Becker (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities), Tracy Gordon (Urban Institute), Dan Hartman (PFM), and Christen Linke Young (The Brookings Institution)
Moderator
Louise Sheiner The Robert S. Kerr Senior Fellow - Economic Studies, Policy Director - The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy @lsheiner -
Closing thoughts
12:10 pm - 12:15 pm
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