LAW 552 - State & Local Govt Finance

State and Local Government Finance: Power, Debt, and Special Interests. This seminar first will consider the basic structures restricting the borrowing of money by state and especially local government entities, the common state constitutional limitations on debt incurrence and the historical and policy reasons for such limitations. It also will consider the increasingly common devices by which such limitations are avoided or undermined. The seminar then will address the legal and policy issues raised by the increasing use of tax abatements, government funds and government borrowing to support a wide range of “private activities,” including public private partnerships, inducements to businesses to locate or expand and subsidies to professional sports teams.