The Obama Administration is hoping to address the nation's huge deficits. Neal Peirce looks at how proposed solutions might trickle down to states and municipalities.
Some of the proposed solutions could be a boon to states, counties and cities, but other ideas could have negative implications.
"[T]he bipartisan deficit commission that Obama created, headed by former Clinton White House aide Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), includes one recommendation that states and cities will abhor. It would make bonds issued by state and local governments, today tax-exempt, fully taxable.
That shift would increase the necessary yields on state or local bonds so sharply that roughly 30 percent would be added to the cost of practically every capital investment states or cities make, notes Frank Shafroth, a veteran of positions in the local state and local government field and currently adjunct professor at George Mason and George Washington Universities."
FULL STORY: What Would Mega-Fiscal Reform Mean for States, Cities?

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower
A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.

Trump Prompts Restructuring of Transportation Research Board in “Unprecedented Overreach”
The TRB has eliminated more than half of its committees including those focused on climate, equity, and cities.

Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train
The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.
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