US Public Finance: Financing America’s Infrastructure
Old challenges, new demands
Public infrastructure finance is at a turning point: traditional municipal systems still require substantial reinvestment, while new economic and climate-driven demands—like data centers, grid upgrades, and resilience projects—are accelerating. This webinar explores how governments and issuers are navigating rising costs, shifting federal support, and evolving capital needs across both “old” and “new” infrastructure.
Topics include:
- Rising construction costs, federal funding uncertainty, and rapid growth in digital and energy demand are forcing state and local governments to rethink how and what they finance.
- The capital mix is changing fast—traditional water, transportation, and legacy transit needs remain immense at the same time as broadband, energy resilience, and data infrastructure projects are expanding.
- Investors, policymakers, and issuers are all reevaluating affordability, delivery models, and long-term funding commitments.
- Practical and political obstacles to utility rate increases even for those utilities with the legal ability to raise rates.
Speakers
Dan Seymour
Vice President - Senior Credit Officer
Moody's Ratings
Baye Larsen
Vice President - Senior Credit Officer
Moody's Ratings
Michael Wertz
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Moody's Ratings
Ursula Cassinerio
Assistant Vice President - Analyst
Moody's Ratings
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Dan Seymour is a Vice President/Senior Credit Officer for local government ratings and covers credits primarily in the Northeast region. He previously covered credits for US state ratings. He joined Moody’s in 2011 and has experience in a diverse portfolio of states, localities, utilities, transit systems, and special tax credits. Before joining Moody’s, he was a reporter from the Associated Press and the Bond Buyer Newspaper. Dan holds a BA from Rowan University and a Master’s degree from Baruch College. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.
Baye Larsen is a Vice President/Senior Credit Officer on the State Ratings Team covering credits primarily for the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Tennessee. Baye is also the lead analyst for the New York MTA, SEPTA and the Port Authority of Allegheny County, as well as a number of federal lease transactions. She has contributed to several analytical development projects at Moody’s, including the PFG Cybersecurity Task Force and publication of the Mass Transit Methodology and the Federal Lease Methodology.
Prior to joining the State Ratings Team, Baye worked for the US Project and Infrastructure Finance Team, where she covered a portfolio of utility and infrastructure issuers, and on the Local Governments Ratings Team providing ratings for local governments and water and sewer utilities. Baye holds an MPA from New York University and a BA in government from Georgetown University.
Michael Wertz is a Vice President/Senior Analyst for the Eastern Local Governments Ratings Team. His primary coverage responsibilities include cities, towns, counties, and school districts in Connecticut and Mississippi, for both of which he is the state lead, as well as New York and various water and sewer utilities throughout the Eastern United States. As a senior member of Moody’s ESG task force, Michael has published commentary on Moody’s approach to incorporating exposure to climate change in local government ratings and on the impact of drought on credit quality. He has also published research about community colleges and city pension reform.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Michael was a public sector consultant focusing on federal and local government projects. Michael holds an MPA from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and a BA in Political Science from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.
Ursula Cassinerio is an Assistant Vice President - Analyst on the Global Project and Infrastructure Finance team at Moody’s, based in New York. Ursula covers a diverse portfolio of infrastructure issuers, with a focus in the transportation sector, including airports, toll roads, and seaports as well as project finance issuers. Ursula leads Moody’s research of the US Airports sector.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Ursula worked as an analyst for Fitch Ratings’ local affiliate and Standard & Poor’s Ratings. Ursula holds a BA from Universidad de Buenos Aires, a Master’s degree in Finance from Universidad de San Andrés and an executive certificate in Infrastructure from Harvard Kennedy School.