New year, new us.
Understanding and writing about public money is more important than ever so Long Story Short will now be mostly free! Muni market news consumers can subscribe for extra perks.
Dear readers,
Thank you for the input you provided this fall when I paused paid subscriptions. I launched this newsletter because congress and the president get a lot of national press, but state and local governments have a much more direct impact on our daily lives. The schools we send our kids to, the roads we drive, the commuter trains we ride, and the parks we visit are largely paid for and managed by states and localities.
After a lot of reflection, I’m excited to announce that I am revamping Long Story Short to be a mostly free newsletter!
The short story
Why I’m making my news and policy analysis newsletters free: I stumbled into writing about public finance and love it—but I know how it looks to everybody else. With all the changes over the past year, I just want to share my love of this weird world and hopefully demystify at least some fiscal policy basics for readers.
Want something wonkier? Paid subscriber benefits restart Jan. 10.
Municipal market insights: For $50 a year, you’ll get extra newsletters on news and trends affecting the municipal bond market, including the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA).
Sign up to be a Sustaining Member: Want to collaborate? Or just show your support? Sustaining Members are eligible to have direct input on one newsletter each year. Options could include: Submitting a piece for editing or a Q&A with you/a representative from your company.
If you are currently a paid subscriber and not interested in the revamped benefits, convert your subscription to a free one by clicking here.
For those who want to upgrade and still receive issues like Muni bonds and the tax reform fight, click below on Friday, Jan. 10 to change your plan.
Other changes to Long Story Short
➡️🎇A new page dedicated to my coverage of Chester, Pennsylvania’s bankruptcy. You can access it in the tabs menu at the top of my newsletter’s homepage.
➡️🎇 A new RSS feed to the Public Money Pod, a podcast I co-host that is produced by the University of Chicago’s Center for Municipal Finance.
The backstory
Writing about government budgets, taxation and spending comes with a steep learning curve. Local media might provide the immediate basics but not the context. Reporters also might write confusing stories because of that darn learning curve. This is known as “dumping out the notebook.” Just put it all in there and let the reader sort it out because, deadlines. Good editors will catch this sort of thing and—as many have done for me—help writers with clarity. But it appears those are in short supply as well.
Over the past year, I’ve written several newsletters on the decline of local news and made those newsletters forever free because a) I wanted everyone to have access, and b) it would be kind of hypocritical to paywall that content. More recently, the political shift in Congress and additional layoffs in public policy journalism have made me wonder how much more will get missed at the state and local level.
I started this newsletter in 2021 when I was a full-time freelancer and hoped it would eventually become a reliable portion of my income. But in 2024, I started a full-time job and my income needs around this newsletter changed (as did my production). After pausing payments, I thought about why I fought to keep this newsletter as part of my employment negotiations and it’s because I want people to have access to fiscal policy analysis that’s newsy and based on reporting from a national level.
But I also don’t just want to give EVERYTHING away…hence, the payment tiers for my more business-focused content.
Last but not least—I’ve been so pleased at the continued growth of this newsletter in recent months. Thank you to all of you for your support!