State and Local Governance Initiative

By: Valentin Bolotnyy

How Unpredictable Schedules Widen The Gender Pay Gap

The gender pay gap can remain even among workers with the same role, seniority, and pay structure. One reason is due to unpredictable scheduling. When schedules are unpredictable, women are less likely than men to be able to accept last-minute overtime opportunities and to work odd hours. Making schedules more predictable can help reduce the gap.

By: Oliver Giesecke

How Healthy Are Local And State Finances?

A new data-driven dashboard exposes the financial realities of American governments.

Hoover Institution Pairs US Policy Officials with Leading Scholars at Inaugural Conference Focused on State and Local Policy Research

Civil servants and policy scholars from across the United States speak at the 2024 Conference on Collaborative State and Local Policy Research on January 22, 2024, in Hoover’s Stauffer Auditorium.

Policy Stories

The Trillion Dollar Pension Problem

Can alternatives to government pension plans provide states an off-ramp from the $6.5 trillion in unfunded liabilities they face, and thereby narrowly avoid impending economic and fiscal crises?

By: Seamus H. Duffy, Oliver Giesecke

Pension Reform: Conceptual Foundations and Practical Challenges

Underfunded pensions are the largest liability for state and local governments nationwide. With increasing recognition of the associated risks, recent mandates have led to sharp increases in required contributions, threatening city services and employee bases. Pension reform offers a viable tool for prudent economic policy. This paper offers five general principles to guide pension reform and illustrates their application in the context of several local governments.

By: Joshua D. Rauh, Jillian Ludwig

The California State Budget And Revenue Volatility: Fiscal Health In A Deficit Context

California is expected to face a $31 billion budget deficit in 2023–24. This comes as no surprise considering that the state budget relies primarily on notoriously volatile sources like a graduated personal income tax with high rates for high earners, including on capital gains.