1. Maureen Berneris assistant professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa, where she is also the director of the State and Local Government Program. She is interested in budget process research in both academia and in the federal government and currently focuses on budgeting for social services. Among other publications, she is coauthor of the fourth edition of Research Methods for Public Administrators (Longman 2003).
2. Sonya Smithis a senior policy analyst for the Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts, where she assists local governments by conducting financial management reviews of their operations. She is interested in management and local government revenue structure issues.