No. 18-1195 In the Supreme Court of the United States Kendra Espinoza, Jeri Ellen Anderson, and Jaime Schaefer, Petitioners, v. Montana Department of Revenue, and Gene Walborn, in His Official Capacity as Director of the Montana Department of Revenue, Respondents. …
Marijuana Industry Financial Services: The Obstacles and the Policy Solutions
State-licensed marijuana businesses and their suppliers have difficulty getting access to basic financial services because federal law discourages banks from providing these services. This is counter to the explicit intention of key federal banking regulators, who have developed guidance for …
How a State Could Transition From Per-Gallon Gas Taxes to Per-Mile Charges
There is a growing consensus among U.S. transportation researchers, and increasingly among state departments of transportation (DOTs), that our main highway funding source—per-gallon taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel—will not be sustainable on a long-term basis. This is due to …
Surface Transportation News #191, September 2019
In this issue: Congestion is greater than ever, says new report Highway report shows which states deliver bang for the buck Is Alabama’s $2.1 billion bridge replacement dead? Are there enough P3 concession companies? Virginia’s I-66 HOT lanes working better …
Separating Fact From Fiction on Vaping, E-Cigarettes and Lung Illnesses
In August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began investigating reports of severe respiratory problems appearing to stem from the vaping of unknown substances. There are now more than 450 such cases and six deaths have reportedly been …
The Risks of Public Pension Systems Reaching for Higher Investment Returns
In the current political and economic environment, where public pension plans are commonly underfunded and investment outlooks are becoming less optimistic, stakeholders frequently face the difficult challenge of somehow increasing the funding flowing into pension funds. A possible answer for …
Annual Privatization Report 2019: Surface Transportation
Global Overview Long-term public-private partnerships (PPPs) for highways have been used by governments for the past 60 years. As documented by José A. Gómez-Ibáñez and John Meyer, the phenomenon began in the 1950s and 1960s, as France and Spain emulated …
With Debt and Unfunded Liabilities Growing, Florida’s Pension System Still Needs Reform
Florida is sitting on a debt bomb that keeps growing despite attempts by the legislature to fix things. The Florida Retirement System provides retirement benefits to over 1.2 million current state and local government workers and retirees. Its financial sustainability …
Nicotine and Harm Reduction Newsletter – September 2019
Federal Updates On Aug. 17, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began investigating an outbreak of severe lung illnesses associated with vaping. In the weeks that followed, more than 200 cases were reported across 25 states. While the …
The Flaws In Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s Charter School Plan
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf recently vetoed a bill that would have expanded private school choice for low- and middle-income families in the state. Less than two months later, Wolf is calling to further regulate the commonwealth’s public charter schools. At first …
Center for Student-Based Budgeting Newsletter, September 2019
Notable Quotable “Policymakers should be wary of fixing the status quo since any system that provides funding based on inputs will inherently lack fairness, transparency, and autonomy. This is why few states employ this approach to school finance. Instead, the …
Negative Interest Rates: The Implications for Municipal Bonds and Pension Systems
Ultra-low interest rates, zero and even negative interest rates are becoming the norm in investment-grade credit. This global fire sale on borrowed funds presents opportunities and challenges alike for state and local financial managers and for public employee pension systems. …
