State and Local Governments Are in Crisis, Urgent Action Needed, Says Consulting Firm Public Works, LLC

Firm Warns This is Unlike Previous Financial Crises

PHILADELPHIA, PA, UNITED STATES, September 18, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In response to looming financial challenges facing states and cities across the country, Eric Schnurer, President of Public Works, LLC, called on officials to act with urgency to strengthen their operations. “Too many are sailing into an ice field and very few are taking the necessary steps to turn the ship," he said.

Schnurer noted widespread awareness of pending federal funding cuts, "few in state and local governments are pro-actively preparing for the dramatic changes awaiting them.”

Schnurer and his firm have been advising governments for 30 years on policy development, management, and how to address fiscal challenges while maintaining a necessary level of service. He points out that: “This isn’t like the previous government financial crises of this century, where state and local officials could make it through by throwing every loose budget item overboard. Previous downturns, while extreme, were also temporary and cyclical. This time it’s different. This is not simply one-time belt-tightening.”

Schnurer points to warning signs that are already visible and have been publicly reported:

• As the economy slows, as it’s now doing, demands for assistance – programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP – will increase just as government revenues fall and federal support disappears.

• Many states’ definitions of income are coupled with the new federal definition, which will automatically reduce revenue in most states.

• Washington is moving away from preparing for public health threats, coordinating responses to disasters, regulating environmental issues, and addressing other cross-jurisdictional concerns – meaning the burden will fall to states and cities.

Schnurer and his firm have reviewed data from many states and local government entities and are urging that they take action urgently to soften these critical financial blows, by:

• Conducting comprehensive efficiency reviews and implementing process improvements to reduce budgets – not waiting until it’s too late for anything but taking a hacksaw to essential functions.

• Expanding rainy-day and targeted reserve funds and building staff capacity and facilities for priorities like disaster response and recovery or educational funding.

• Changing hiring and procurement rules to replace critical resources such as federal support teams and other “just-in-time” program staff.

• Strategically investing in high-wage, high-growth economies to generate higher incomes and revenues.

“The old playbooks won’t work,” says Schnurer. “Leaders who begin preparing now – before the full impact comes in October – can stabilize their budgets, strengthen their operations, and position their communities to thrive even as federal support recedes and the administration in Washington turns the ship of state upside-down.”

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Steven Alschuler
Public Works
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