Last month I joined @goodjobsfirst.org as its research director. And while I’m still very much in learning mode, I had the chance to write a blog on how Lincoln is using TIF to help landlords weatherize and rehab buildings while keeping rents affordable goodjobsfirst.org/lincolns-exe...

Gotta say, big perk of living on the east coast is Amtrak for travel. So much better than flying

It has been a bracing moment for American federalism, with both unprecedented efforts to extend executive control over state and local govts, novel forms of subnational resistance. Where is federalism going? Paul Nolette and I have edited a new issue of Publius on that question. Short thread:

Turning to intergovernmental finance, @akass.bsky.social weighs in on how pandemic-era aid reshaped the local fiscal landscape. While ARPA represented a significant intervention, she argues, it did not represent a paradigm shift in American fiscal federalism. academic.oup.com/publius/arti...

the journal Publius is out with a special issue on American federalism, just in time for your winter break reading. very excited to see my article out in print! academic.oup.com/publius/issu...

Do I have book recommendations for municipal finance? Yes, of course! But what kind of book are you looking for? History, textbook, muni market basics?

Cc @akass.bsky.social maybe?

Mayor Brandon Johnson called for more than $617M in new taxes on the wealthiest Chicagoans and largest firms in order to blunt cuts imposed by the Trump administration while avoiding drastic cuts in city services and thousands of layoffs. news.wttw.com/2025/10/16/m...

I really wonder what is going to happen. Some places are all in, some are hard no. Within a department it can vary from instructor to instructor. Then there’s the entire state government of PA that all in on AI (see the Governor’s EO www.pa.gov/content/dam/...)

was just forced to update to Windows11. Initial impression is I'm not a fan, but at least I don't think a bunch of AI is integrated

Along with Will Payne and Jovan Lewis, I'm organizing an AAG session on the economic geography of scams for the 2026 conference in San Francisco. Please share widely! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Thank you Chicago for greeting me with this horrible weather and losing my ventra card. It's good to be back

going down a rabbit hole of looking at property tax videos on tik tok....are any public finance or public admin scholars on the platform?

I have been working on an article about pandemic federal aid and fiscal federalism since July 2024 and I just the final version. This paper was gone on a real journey, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Fingers crossed it's in print soon

I'm very excited that I was accepted to the NASPAA NEXT cohort! Also means I'll be headed to the NASPAA conference in Flagstaff. First time attending this conference so looking forward to it!

putting together the syllabus for my research methods class. As part of the readings I'll have students read academic articles that involve qualitative research. So friends, who has a recent publication I should assign?

Urban Affairs Association is now accepting submissions for the 2026 conference in Chicago….and here I was pretending it’s still the start of summer

what baltimore's doing is what a lot of people who actually care about this stuff have been saying should happen (a lot of overlapping things)

Was listening to the radio this morning and the discourse on Trump’s policy bill is frustrating. Cutting Medicaid is framed as generating “savings”. Sure, it will reduce on-budget government spending, but there are real off-budget costs

Grades are in so officially a wrap on Spring Quarter 2025!

My heart breaks for trans kids, who do not deserve this obsessive animus that adults are directing at them.

This really needs to be recognized for what it is: cutting services for vulnerable, lower income households to give tax cuts to the wealthy

CVI work in Chicago expanded because of federal aid from the American Rescue Plan Act. That money was never a long term solution to pay for this important work, but with Chicago’s budget hole and federal policy turn away from CVI, cuts are coming

what is even happening….been offline most of the day and it, uh, seems like some news has happened

That is a wrap for my Spring Quarter classes (well still grading to do). Both classes ended on a high note with wonderful in-class presentations!

Between the latest generativeAI higher education article and news that house republicans didn’t know what was in the destructive domestic bill and now regret voting for it I’m feeling extremely deflated this morning

Anyone have a link to a map that shows all the overlapping local governments in Chicagoland region? @cbgoodman.co maybe you have an example?

UAA conference in Chicago for 2026! Woohoo

"His organization isn’t the only one that received cuts, and he said there will be half the number of people this summer out in the community mediating conflicts." more utterly depressing news www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/27/e...

I think the messaging around both advocates MMA & labors bill is legit confusing. The rhetoric is often around fiscal cliff but bills are restructuring/reforms without funding-just pledges to fight for money.

I have a fairly straightforward empirical question: Was the ARPA $ a windfall for local governments? Seems like that would take 5 minutes to answer...but of course not because step 1 is building the dataset! So much of research is data collection, cleaning and processing

Am reading about Moody's downgrade of the US and I've yet to see a piece that explains what that means and its broader impact in layman's terms

this week in my government finance class we're watching the documentary All the Queen's Horses about the Dixon fraud, which was shockingly simple and immediately identifiable. It's, unfortunately, a clear example of poor financial management practices

Is there any research on Governmental Accounting Standards Board exposure drafts and public comments?

who here is good at searching the Federal Register and wants to help me? 😬

this week's class in my govt finance class includes the federal budget process (emphasis on impoundment) and the Illinois budget impasse...also will squeeze in foundational concepts about how things are supposed to work

Just heard an ad for homes.com that focused on the information the site has about schools: “Each listing includes extensive reports on schools”. Does it go further than realtors can go? Or is it all just “objective information”?

Illinois’ budget impasse making an appearance in my government finance course’s textbook

The “tall” white building on the right is a new-ish build.

We close to our goal! Less than $500 to go. Please consider giving (any amount helps) to support this cool opportunity for DePaul students inspire.depaul.edu/project/4570...

Want to help get people into public service? Consider giving to support a field trip to the Illinois State Capitol for DePaul students. This is a unique opportunity for them to learn how state government works. The trip is free for students inspire.depaul.edu/project/4570...

Want to help get people into public service? Consider giving to support a field trip to the Illinois State Capitol for DePaul students. This is a unique opportunity for them to learn how state government works. The trip is free for students inspire.depaul.edu/project/4570...

mixed emotions about this new ILGA site being beta tested...i sort of love the old, very outdated looking one

Relevant to discussions in my government financial administration class! There's a lot to connect: fiscal federalism, relationship of economy + government, projecting revenue in uncertain times, etc

I have become the person that responds to emails a year late 😬

Happening this afternoon! A great workshop for any researcher who wants to better understand how to manage research and information! We will talk through some knowledge management ideas and demo a few tools to help you. Great workshop especially for grad students + supervisors!

Teaching government financial administration is bringing me joy! (like the nerd I am 🤓) Students coming to class with great energy. It’s fun to seem them connect concepts to the “real world” and learn how to read budget + finance documents

Among the numerous, purported rationales for the tariffs, I thought one was paying for extension of TCJA