State Fiscal Policy

Joanna Biernacka-Lievestro, Ph.D., is a senior manager with Pew’s Fiscal 50 interactive platform. She tracks and explains demographic, economic, and fiscal trends to help policymakers address challenges to their states’ long-term fiscal health. She also leads updates for Fiscal 50 indicators, including population change, fiscal balance, and long-term liabilities. Biernacka-Lievestro previously contributed to Pew’s research on family financial security and mobility.

Alexandre Fall is a senior associate with Pew’s Fiscal 50 interactive platform. He conducts research to help policymakers understand fiscal, economic, and demographic trends affecting their states by tracking tax revenue, reserves, employment rates, Medicaid spending, and other issues important to long-term fiscal health. Fall, who began his career at Pew in 2019, holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign affairs and economics and a master’s in public policy from the University of Virginia.

Liz Farmer helps lead Pew’s Fiscal 50 interactive platform, focusing on budgets, fiscal distress, tax policy, and pensions. Before joining Pew, Farmer worked as a fiscal policy journalist, writing for a national audience about the ways state and local governments spend taxpayer dollars. Following her time at Governing magazine, she was a regular contributor to Forbes and Route Fifty, and has been published in other major publications. Farmer was a research fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Future of Labor Research Center and worked with former Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser at Funkhouser & Associates. Farmer holds a bachelor’s degree in American history, film, and television production from the George Washington University and a master’s in journalism from the University of Maryland.

Page Forrest is a senior associate with Pew’s Fiscal 50 interactive platform. She writes and conducts research to help policymakers understand fiscal, economic, and demographic trends affecting their states by tracking tax revenue, reserves, employment rates, Medicaid spending, and other issues important to long-term fiscal health. Before joining Pew, Forrest was a budget analyst for the state of Tennessee. Forrest holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from Sewanee: The University of the South and a master’s in public policy and administration from the University of Tennessee.

Riley Judd is an associate with Pew’s Fiscal 50 interactive platform. She conducts research and analysis to help policymakers understand fiscal, economic, and demographic trends affecting their states by tracking tax revenue, reserves, employment rates, Medicaid spending, and other issues important to long-term fiscal health. Previously, Judd worked for the Colorado General Assembly and interned for the National Conference of State Legislatures. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and public policy from the University of Denver.

Melissa Maynard oversees Pew’s Fiscal 50 interactive platform. The resource helps policymakers understand fiscal, economic, and demographic trends affecting their states by tracking tax revenue, reserves, employment rates, Medicaid spending, and other issues important to long-term fiscal health.

Justin Theal is a senior officer with Pew’s Fiscal 50 project and manages research on key state fiscal trends—including revenue, spending, and reserves—while providing data-driven insights that help policymakers understand and navigate complex fiscal challenges. He plays a leading role in expanding Pew’s research on emerging risks to state budgets, with an emphasis on the fiscal impacts of climate change.