Live hearing(s) today and tomorrow, Sheila Weinberg testifying today at hearing beginning 8:55am CT, Bill Bergman testifying tomorrow at hearing starting at 8:55am. Hearing relates to GASB proposals; Sheila Weinberg’s comment letter is available here, Bill Bergman’s comment letter is available here.

Includes “Truth in Accounting … About Youtuber: To educate and empower citizens with understandable, reliable, and transparent government financial information. Frequency: 2 videos / week.  Since: Jun 2008”

By Brian Tumulty, includes “What’s at stake is whether the public is being misled by when a governmental fund is listed in the financial statements as balanced while omitting those long-term debts.

Includes “I’ve noticed lately this blog is getting a lot of traffic from a really interesting website called ‘Truth in Accounting’ … This website is operated by a well-credentialed group of individuals, out of Chicago – a city with big pension problems. It is a really good source of information about pension systems nationwide, including the federal government systems, which have driven our national debt for years. …”

By Mark Coker, includes “Finding the right resources to stay current and relevant is critical. ThinkAdvisor is one great resource. The following are a few of my other favorites. 1.  Truth in Accounting is a great resource to stay current with the country’s financial state, states, cities, and pensions. …”

Op-ed by Bill Bergman, includes “… Looking ahead, the Pentagon audit process deserves respect and encouragement. It is too early to surrender to cynicism and anger. But it is not too late to demand greater success in a mission that is critical for the Pentagon and for all of us.”

Includes “… What stuck out to me was that he knows the CEO of CalPERS by first name. … This article explains how they’ve reduced their UAL 23% over the past four years without issuing Pension Obligation Bonds.”

By Kevin Bae, includes “Some genius Chicago aldermen have the brilliant idea to provide a ‘Guaranteed Basic Income’ to city residents. … The people of the City of Chicago would have to tax each and every taxpayer $41,100.00 in order to eliminate the city’s current debt burden of $36 billion. …  I think it’s gonna be a little difficult to pay that off.”

Includes “…Chicago, which also has a pension problem, handled it just how we hope to avoid in Delaware. Mayor Rahm Emanuel initiated numerous taxes, from a large property tax hike in 2014 to a 911 communication tax.”

By Courtney Buble, includes “… While the department also failed its two previous audits, in 2018 and 2019, if the key to solving problems is to first identify them, then the Pentagon is making progress, according to the watchdog group Truth in Accounting. ‘They are making progress in the sense that they’re finding more problems than they resolve,’ said Bill Bergman, Truth in Accounting’s director of research.”

A short video covering our recently-released Defense Department Audit Report Card.

By Dave Fidlin, includes “… ‘New York City is a pretty important example of this, I’m afraid,’ Bergman said in an interview with The Center Square of his concerns. ‘If New York City is balancing its budget each year, how can that explain the accumulation of a massive negative net position?’ …”

By Bethany Blankley, includes “Eight of Texas’ largest cities are in the red, and one – Plano – ranks ninth-best for its financial health, according to a recent study. In its fifth annual Financial State of the Cities report, the Chicago-based nonprofit Truth in Accounting analyzed fiscal year 2019 annual financial reports of the 75 largest cities in the U.S.”