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The annual Municipal Finance Conference brings together academics, practitioners, issuers, and regulators to discuss recent research on municipal capital markets and state and local fiscal issues. The conference is a joint venture of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution, the Rosenberg Institute of Global Finance at Brandeis School of Business and Economics, the Mitch Daniels School of Business at Purdue University, and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at University of Texas at Austin. The 2026 conference will be held in person, with a livestream option for remote viewers, on July 21 and 22 at the Brookings Institution.
*This event is free of charge. Registration is needed to attend in person. See draft agenda below.
Agenda
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July 21
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DAY 1: Tuesday, July 21
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Registration Opens/Breakfast
9:00 am - 9:30 am
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Welcome Remarks
9:30 am - 9:35 am
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Paper Session 1: Muni Market Structure and Pricing
9:35 am - 10:45 am
Municipal Bond Smithereening: Institutional-to-Retail Distribution and Markups
Authors: Casey Dougal (Florida State University), Daniel Rettl (University of Georgia), Rich Ryffel (Purdue University), and Vasiliy Yakimenko (University of Georgia)
Discussant: Brad Wendt (Charles River Associates)The Fragility Tax: How Mutual Fund Ownership Links Segmented Markets
Authors: Viet-Dung Doan (Hong Kong Baptist University) and Huseyin Gulen (Purdue University)
Discussant: Mark Schmidt (Morgan Stanley) -
Break
10:45 am - 11:00 am
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Panel: Housing
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
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Lunch (Breakout Sessions)
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
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Paper Session 2: Muni Market Functioning
1:30 pm - 2:40 pm
Stress-Tested: Municipal Bond ETFs During Market Turmoil
Author: Yu He (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
Discussant: Simon Wu (Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board)Tax-Exempt Tender Transactions: A Critical Examination
Authors: Andrew Kalotay (Kalotay Advisors) and Martin Luby (University of Texas at Austin) -
Break
2:40 pm - 2:50 pm
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Paper Session 3: Referenda and Bankers
2:50 pm - 4:00 pm
Debt by Democracy: Bond Referendum Requirements and Municipal Borrowing
Authors: June Huang (University of Texas at Dallas), Kimberlyn Munevar (Texas A&M University), and Delphine Samuels (INSEAD)
Discussant: Lauren Larson (Silicon Catalyst and Brookings)Breaking the Bond: The Effect of Banker Turnover on Municipal Bonds
Author: Natasha Boreyko (University of Michigan) -
Panel: Elected Officials
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Panelists: Arunan Arulampalam (Mayor, City of Hartford, CT) and Fritz Kaegi (Assessor, Cook County, IL)
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Cocktail Reception
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
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DAY 2: Wednesday, July 22
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July 22
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Registration Opens/Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:00 am
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Welcome Remarks
9:00 am - 9:05 am
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Paper Session 4: Fiscal Risks
9:05 am - 10:15 am
Property Tax Protection and Municipal Bond Valuation
Author: Yun Joo An (Indiana University)
Discussant: Jess Cornaggia (Penn State University)Risk on the Run: Public Pensions, Migration Risk and Pivot to Alternatives
Author: Rahul Singh Chauhan (University of Chicago) -
Break
10:15 am - 10:30 am
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Paper Session 5: SALT and Debt Relief
10:30 am - 11:40 am
How SALT Spices Up Municipal Bond Markets
Authors: Lorenzo Bretscher, Francesco Brunamonti, and Norman Schürhoff (University of Lausanne and Swiss Finance Institute)The Real Effects of Debt Relief: Evidence from Independent School Districts in Texas
Author: Thomas Lee (University of Texas at Austin)
Discussant: Howard Cure (Evercore Wealth Management) -
Panel
11:40 am - 12:40 pm
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Adjourn/Closing Thoughts
12:40 pm - 12:45 pm
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