Author: Mary Pat Campbell

As Pandemic Surged, Contact Tracing Struggled; Biden Looks to Boost It

Mary Pat Campbell
As Pandemic Surged, Contact Tracing Struggled; Biden Looks to Boost It

Excerpt:

Contact tracing, a critical part of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, has fallen behind in recent months as covid-19 cases have soared. President Joe Biden had pledged to change that.

Biden proposes hiring 100,000 people nationwide as part of a new public health jobs corps. They would help with contact tracing and facilitate vaccination. Experts said it’s not clear that would be enough tracers to keep up with another surge in covid cases, even if the vaccination rate increases at the same time.

As with everything covid right now — testing, vaccinations and hospital capacity — ramping up contact tracing has become a race against time as new, more contagious variants of the virus threaten to accelerate transmission of the disease.

Author(s): Yves Smith and Steve Findlay

Publication Date: 11 February 2021

Publication Site: naked capitalism

California pension funds learning from experience; Flexibility is key lesson from plans’ pandemic struggles

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.pionline.com/pension-funds/california-pension-funds-learning-experience

Excerpt:

Marcie Frost said CalPERS got an early warning about the coronavirus from its outgoing CIO.


CalPERS and CalSTRS have been working to keep their plans upright and positioned to attain their expected rate of returns in unprecedented economic, social and political conditions.

Author(s): Arleen Jacobius

Publication Date: 25 January 2021

Publication Site: Pensions & Investments

Resisting diversity could lead to termination

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.pionline.com/esg/resisting-diversity-could-lead-termination

Excerpt:

Shannon M. O’Leary cited lack of diversity as a big part of the reason her foundation cut ties with three managers in the past year or so.
Foundations argue that scrutiny of investment consultants and money managers lagging on the diversity front will only move the needle so far. For firms failing to meet diversity goals set by foundations, the best recourse is to fire them and reallocate capital elsewhere, sources say.

Author(s): Danielle Walker

Publication Date: 25 January 2021

Publication Site: Pensions & Investments

Tontines garnering a new wave of interest

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.pionline.com/retirement-plans/tontines-garnering-new-wave-interest

Excerpt:

Strategies could help answer growing concerns about how to solve rising longevity risks

Dean McClelland said the OECD’s mention of tontines is a sign of growing acceptance.


Live longer could become the new retirement advice in coming years amid growing interest in tontines — investment pools where participants share longevity risks by distributing the assets of those who die as “mortality credits” to surviving participants.

Author(s): DOUGLAS APPELL

Publication Date: 25 January 2021

Publication Site: Pensions & Investments

Public Officials See Salaries Inflate With COVID Overtime

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.governing.com/work/Public-Officials-See-Salaries-Inflate-With-COVID-Overtime.html

Excerpt:

Among all county employees, 1,226 staffers received $5.9 million in overtime related to the new coronavirus health crisis last year and saw their paychecks grow thanks to federal CARES Act stimulus money awarded to Erie County. But of the nearly $6 million in Covid-19-related overtime paid out last year in federal funds, 54 political appointees received $1.3 million of it. In other words, those 4.4 percent of the workers got 22.1 percent of the money.

These government administrators would not typically receive overtime pay. However, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz allowed all non-union, managerial confidential employees to accept overtime pay for their Covid-19 related work because he said his administration received explicit guidance that CARES Act federal stimulus money allows non-union managers to collect it.

Author(s): SANDRA TAN, THE BUFFALO NEWS

Publication Date: 29 January 2021

Publication Site: Governing

As Cuomo Banks on Federal Funds, Localities Grow Nervous

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.governing.com/finance/As-Cuomo-Banks-on-Federal-Funds-Localities-Grow-Nervous.html

Excerpt:

 Receive from above, take from below. Such is the essence of one theme of the 2021 state budget plan unveiled last week by New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The Democratic governor’s budget plan has a basic premise: Red ink will be washed away only if his request for a bailout from the federal government happens.

Cuomo’s new budget assumes the federal government will give New York at least $6 billion over two years as part of a broader $1.9 trillion Covid-related stimulus package being negotiated by Democratic President Joseph Biden and the Democratic-led Congress.

Author(s): TOM PRECIOUS, THE BUFFALO NEWS

Publication Date: 25 January 2021

Publication Site: Governing

The Supreme Court Decision That Saved States Billions

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.governing.com/finance/The-Supreme-Court-Decision-That-Saved-States-Billions.html

Excerpt:

The 2018 Supreme Court decision, in South Dakota v. Wayfair, overturned prior decisions that had made it impossible for states to collect sales taxes from remote sellers. They certainly tried in different ways, but were shot down by various courts. It was the long-sought Wayfair decision, as it’s known, that opened the door for states to collect taxes on most online sales.

“Prior to the Wayfair decision, although some ecommerce sellers were going down the path of starting to collect sales tax on their sales, online sales was still a potential avenue to avoid the sales tax,” says Chuck Maniace, vice president of regulatory analysis at Sovos, a tax compliance firm.

Wayfair allows states to demand that businesses without a physical presence collect and remit taxes, assuming they make at least $100,000 worth of in-state sales. Following the decision, large states such as California and Texas have set the threshold higher, at $500,000. States differ in terms of how many in-state transactions can take place before a seller has to collect taxes (generally, about 200).

Author(s): ALAN GREENBLATT

Publication Date: 22 January 2021

Publication Site: Governing

Big Tax Cut For The Rich Sought By Illinois Progressives In Congress – Quicktake

Mary Pat Campbell
Big Tax Cut For The Rich Sought By Illinois Progressives In Congress – Quicktake

Excerpt:

Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, as well as Illinois Rep. Brad Schneider, are leading the charge to repeal the cap on state and local tax deductions, as reported by Crain’s and elswehere. They’ve each sponsored bills to eliminate the SALT cap, as it is called, which became law in 2017.

That cap of $10,000 on deductibility of state and local taxes, including property taxes, walloped many high income taxpayers not just by increasing their federal tax bill but by reducing the value of homes they own. We described the research showing that in our recent article here.

There’s actually no debate about it: Liberal and conservative tax experts alike agree that the eliminating the SALT cap would be a windfall for high earners. The conservative Tax Foundation explained why here, and the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, ITEP, wrote this in an article opposing elimination of the cap:

Author(s): Mark Glennon

Publication Date: 2 February 2021

Publication Site: Wirepoints

DiNapoli: Chatham Police Chief Pleads Guilty to Pension Double-Dipping and Defrauding Village

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/2021/02/dinapoli-chatham-police-chief-pleads-guilty-pension-double-dipping-and-defrauding-village

Excerpt:

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka, and the New York State Police today announced the guilty plea of former Village of Chatham Chief of Police Peter Volkmann following a joint investigation. As a result of his conviction, Volkmann is required to leave public office.

….

Volkmann pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the fourth degree for circumventing New York state’s post-retirement income restrictions and cheating the New York State and Local Retirement System out of $74,222. Volkmann hid public-source income from 19 municipalities and school districts in excess of the statutory limit by funneling the earnings through a private business, PF Volkmann & Associates. He also plead to official misconduct, a misdemeanor, for stealing $18,607 from the Village of Chatham by falsifying mileage vouchers and other reimbursements to increase his income. Volkmann will pay a total amount of restitution prior to sentencing in the amount of $92,829 as part of his plea and as a result of his conviction has been removed from office.

Author(s): Thomas DiNapoli

Publication Date: 11 February 2021

Publication Site: Office of the New York State Comptroller

DiNapoli: Westchester Sisters Sentenced for Stealing Deceased Mother’s Pension

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/2021/02/dinapoli-westchester-sisters-sentenced-stealing-deceased-mothers-pension

Excerpt:

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced the sentencings of Annette Bigelow, 61, and Mary Nash, 59, who hid their mother’s death to pocket nearly $22,000 from the New York State and Local Employees Retirement System, which DiNapoli administers, from 2013 to 2015.

The two daughters pleaded guilty to felony grand larceny last September. They were sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay full restitution of $22,000.

Author(s): Thomas P. DiNapoli

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: Office of the New York State Comptroller

Sources of Government Revenue in the OECD

Mary Pat Campbell
Sources of Government Revenue in the OECD

Graphic:

Excerpt:

When comparing average 2019 and 1990 OECD tax revenue sources, the most notable change is a decrease in individual income taxes versus increases in social insurance and consumption taxes. The share of revenues from corporate income taxes has also increased compared to 1990 (despite declining corporate income tax rates[4]). The relative importance of property taxes as a source of revenue has stayed roughly constant.

Author(s): Cristina Enache

Publication Date: 11 February 2021

Publication Site: Tax Foundation

As New York Unemployment Fraud Surges, Victims Want Help

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.governing.com/work/As-New-York-Unemployment-Fraud-Surges-Victims-Want-Help.html

Excerpt:

Many law enforcement agencies are continuing to see a high rate of identification-theft cases involving individuals whose personal information was illegally used to apply for unemployment benefits during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Some of the recent cases are coming to light when individuals are receiving bank debit cards or paperwork in the mail indicating they were approved for federal pandemic unemployment assistance that they never applied for.

In other instances described by law enforcement officials, victims are learning they have been defrauded when they receive tax forms instructing them that the unemployment benefits they received last year are reportable income — although those individuals were not aware that someone had applied for or received the benefits using their identity. In some cases, multiple individuals from the same organizations — school districts, professional firms or government agencies — were victimized. That, according to law enforcement experts, could be tied to data breaches involving those entities.

Author(s): BRENDAN J. LYONS, TIMES UNION

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: Governing