Event Recap: FY2020 State Fiscal Conference, July 10-11 in Atlanta

State lawmakers, budget officials, investors, Fed officials, and the media gathered in Atlanta for the FY2020 State Fiscal Conference, "Truth and Integrity in State Budgeting: Looming Risks, Durable Solutions,” on July 10-11, 2019. At the event, cohosted by the Volcker Alliance and Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, attendees discussed strategies for meeting critical challenges and gained actionable information on budgetary risks and best practices. The conference marked the fourth in a series of such convenings with regional Federal Reserve Banks.

The event also saw the release of a working paper entitled “Rainy Day Fund Strategies: A Call to Action,” in which the Volcker Alliance examines the rainy day fund policies and practices of all fifty states and sets out a ten-point program that states can use as a template for reform. The paper identifies best practices in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Virginia that serve as examples for other states to follow.

Featured speakers at the conference included Shirley Clarke Franklin, former mayor of Atlanta, and Raphael W. Bostic, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Panel topics covered:

• Better Budget Forecasting: Identifying and Lessening Revenue Risks
• Infrastructure: Quantifying Risks to Reap the Rewards
• Workforce Development: Challenges, Solutions, and Budget Consequences
• Rainy Day Funds and Reserves: Ameliorating Revenue Risks

The last session of the conference was a participatory workshop on Rainy Day Funds and Reserves, which culminated in a full group discussion, moderated by Kil Huh. 

Both keynote addresses, the panel discussions, and the final workshop discussion videos can all be found below.

Keynote Address: Shirley Clarke Franklin

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Shirley Franklin

INTRODUCTION: Thomas W. Ross, President, The Volcker Alliance

KEYNOTE: Shirley Clarke Franklin, former Mayor of Atlanta, in conversation with James Salzer, Assistant Senior Editor, State Government and Politics, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Better Budget Forecasting: Identifying and Lessening Revenue Risks and Infrastructure: Quantifying Risks to Reap the Rewards Panels

PANEL SESSION NO. 1 - Better Budget Forecasting: Identifying and Lessening Revenue Risks

MODERATOR: Jeffrey Holland, Vice President of Research, Peter G. Peterson Foundation

PANELISTS:

• Sheila Amoroso, Senior Vice President and Director of the Municipal Bond Department, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group
• Andrew Haughwout, Senior Vice President and Policy Leader for Household/Regional Microeconomic Studies Function, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
• Juliette Tennert, Director of Economic and Public Policy Research, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, University of Utah

PANEL SESSION NO. 2 - Infrastructure: Quantifying Risks to Reap the Rewards

MODERATOR: Dennis Lockhart, Distinguished Professor-of-the-Practice, Georgia Institute of Technology, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs; former President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

PANELISTS:

• Thomas G. Doe, Founder and President, Municipal Market Analytics Inc.
• Tracy Gordon, Senior Fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center
• George “Mac” McCarthy, President and Chief Executive, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
• Camila Fonseca-Sarmiento, Research Associate, Institute for Urban and Regional Infrastructure Finance, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

Workforce Development: Challenges, Solutions, and Budget Consequences Panel

PANEL SESSION NO. 3 - Workforce Development: Challenges, Solutions, and Budget Consequences

MODERATOR: Thomas W. Ross, President, The Volcker Alliance

PANELISTS:

• David E. Altig, Executive Vice President and Director of Research, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
• Kaye Husbands Fealing, Chair and Professor, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Marti Fischbach, Director of Economic and Employment Assistance, Dakota County

Keynote Address: Raphael Bostic

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Raphael Bostic

INTRODUCTION: Chris Cunningham, Research Economist and Associate Adviser, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

KEYNOTE: Raphael W. Bostic, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

For a complete transcript Raphael Bostic's keynote address, entitled "Ruminations on Inflation," click here.

Rainy Day Funds and Reserves: Ameliorating Revenue Risks Panel

PANEL SESSION NO. 4 - Rainy Day Funds and Reserves: Ameliorating Revenue Risks Panel

MODERATOR: Mary Murphy, Project Director, Fiscal and Economic Policy, State Fiscal Health, The Pew Charitable Trusts

PANELISTS:

• Katherine Barrett, Special Projects Consultant, The Volcker Alliance
• Richard Greene, Special Projects Consultant, The Volcker Alliance
• Senator Jack Hill, Chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee, Georgia State Senate
• Gabriel Petek, Legislative Analyst, Legislative Analyst’s Office, State of California

Workshop: Rainy Day Funds and Reserves

WORKSHOP: Rainy Day Funds and Reserves

MODERATOR: Kil Huh, Vice President of Government Performance, The Pew Charitable Trusts

FACILITATORS:

• Katherine Barrett, Special Projects Consultant, The Volcker Alliance
• Thad Calabrese, Associate Professor of Public and Nonprofit Financial Management and Director of Finance Specialization, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University
• Richard Greene, Special Projects Consultant, The Volcker Alliance
• Mary Murphy, Project Director, Fiscal and Economic Policy, State Fiscal Health, The Pew Charitable Trusts
• Lisa Washburn, Managing Director, Municipal Market Analytics Inc.