Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, Economist Austan Goolsbee and Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read address critical public finance issues.

Washington, DC – January 26, 2021 – The Milken Institute will bring together Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, and other leaders in government, industry, and academia to discuss pressing issues in the $4 trillion US public finance sector on Wednesday, January 27 and Thursday, January 28.

The Public Finance Forum: Delivering Resilient and Equitable Opportunities will take place as a virtual event and will cover topics including pathways to an economic recovery post-COVID-19, resilient infrastructure innovation, the financial condition of state and local state governments, and delivering equitable opportunities in public finance. Following are sessions that will be livestreamed. Media interested in attending can contact Enxhi Myslymi at [email protected].

NEW PATHWAYS FOR RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION

Wednesday, January 27 from 12:00-1:00pm ET
A fireside chat with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, followed by a panel of regional infrastructure innovators featuring Gary Moore, President of the National Association of Counties; Angela Martinez, Regional Director, US Economic Development Administration; and Eric Letsinger, CEO, Quantified Ventures and Chairman ReHarvest Partners. The panel will be moderated by Laurie Schoeman, Resilience Director, Enterprise Community Partners.

THE STATE OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Thursday, January 28 from 12:00-1:00pm ET
A fireside chat with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will be followed by a panel discussion with Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Barack Obama; Elizabeth Reich, Chief Financial Officer, City of Dallas; Emily Brock, Director of Federal Affairs, Government Finance Officers Association; and Tobias Read, Oregon State Treasurer. The panel will be moderated by Michael Piwowar, Executive Director of the Milken Institute Center for Financial Markets.

During the Public Finance Forum, the Milken Institute Center for Regional Economics will release a report detailing its policy recommendations to accelerate infrastructure investment at the federal, state, and local levels.

“The state and local government sector employs 20 million Americans and faces projected budget shortfalls as high as $1 trillion in years to come,” said Piwowar. “Our goal through this event is to highlight the innovative practices and pathways needed to help communities respond to their fiscal challenges and ultimately position these economies for a resilient, post-COVID-19 recovery.”

The Public Finance Forum, is hosted with support from the Ford Foundation and is part of the Milken Institute’s expanding Program for Excellence and Equity in Public Finance. The program aims to improve public finance best practices nationwide and build a center of gravity for innovative public-private partnerships and applied research to connect policymakers, practitioners, academics, and innovators. For more information on the program, visit https://milkeninstitute.org/programs/public-finance.

Media Contact:

Chad Clinton
Director, Media Relations
202-262-1067 (cell)
[email protected]

About the Milken Institute Center for Financial Markets

The Milken Institute Center for Financial Markets conducts research and constructs programs designed to facilitate the smooth and efficient operation of financial markets—to help ensure that they are fair and available to those who need them when they need them. For more information, visit https://milkeninstitute.org/centers/center-for-financial-markets.

About the Milken Institute

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that helps people build meaningful lives in which they can experience health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful employment, and access the resources required to create ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader communities. For more information, visit https://milkeninstitute.org/.