Muni advocates always on defense, offense simultaneously, GFOA’s Mellerio says

Playing defense and offense simultaneously, pivoting when necessary and translating often complex and unique public finance issues into language and concepts Capitol Hill lawmakers and federal regulators can understand are all part of the job of a muni lobbyist.

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That’s according to Paige Mellerio, who is nearing her one-year anniversary as a member of the Government Finance Officers Association’s Federal Liaison Center team, having joined GFOA last September in the role of senior policy advisor. 

Mellerio came to GFOA from the National Association of Counties, where she worked for nearly four years, most recently as legislative director. And the move didn’t take her far physically. 

“I’m actually in the same building,” she said. “I’ve literally just moved up a floor.” 

In fact, in addition to NACo and GFOA, the National League of Cities and the International City/County Management Association are also in the building, creating “like a little local government building on North Capitol Street in D.C.,” Mellerio said. 

Each of those organizations is a member of the Public Finance Network, a coalition of organizations committed to ensuring that tax-exempt bonds remain a financing tool available to state and local governments. PFN is administered by GFOA and Emily Brock, director of GFOA’s Federal Liaison Center. 

Mellerio, who acknowledged the blow the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s elimination of tax-exempt advance refundings dealt to the muni market, said a threat to the municipal bond tax exemption — such as the one that had been posed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — “is always helpful to kind of coalesce people.” Ultimately, the OBBBA left the federal income tax exemption for municipal bond interest unscathed when it was signed into law on July 4, 2025. 

Through the PFN, Mellerio, then at NACo, had the opportunity to work closely with Brock and her team at GFOA in the runup to the OBBBA’s passage, and “the big effort that we all undertook last year” helped her recognize “the importance of effective coalition building and the exciting opportunity that was at hand with the formalization of the PFN.” 

Through that experience, she also developed a strong interest in municipal bonds and that, along with a desire to broaden the types of public entities she worked with, prompted her move to GFOA, Mellerio said. 

Formed in 1988, the PFN became a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization in 2025. 

Thanks to Brock and others involved in the PFN, “we knew that … the threat to the tax exemption was likely coming down the pike before the 119th Congress even started,” Mellerio said.

However, the fact that the municipal bond tax exemption was eyed as a potential revenue raiser in negotiations leading up to the OBBBA’s passage and the current size of the federal deficit suggest “Congress is going to likely continue to look at deficit-cutting measures,” she said. 

That means “the threat to the municipal tax exemption will continue to come up in D.C.,” Mellerio said. 

In addition to continuing its Capitol Hill advocacy efforts regarding the municipal bond exemption, GFOA is also on guard for proposals that threaten to limit the exemption moving forward, she said, noting, one such emerging threat involves stadium bonds. Both the House and Senate have active bills that would eliminate the ability of governments to issue tax-exempt bonds to finance professional sports stadiums. 

GFOA is also continuing to push for restoration of tax-exempt advance refundings and for an increase to $30 million from the current $10 million limit for the small-issuer exception relating to bank-qualified debt. 

“So we’re always playing both the defense and offense at the same time,” she said.

As for what a typical day looks like, Mellerio said each day is different. In addition to the longstanding issues GFOA is focused on, “there are issues that come up every once in a while that we have to respond to,” she said.

“Currently, we are spending a lot more time of our day in the regulatory space in responding to proposed rules and changes,” Mellerio said. 

On the regulatory front, GFOA is monitoring the rulemaking process associated with the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022, she said, noting, the first phase of FDTA rulemaking was recently finalized.

Another regulatory focus for GFOA is a proposed rule published May 29 by the Office of Management and Budget and other agencies that would make significant changes to the federal uniform guidance for federal financial assistance.

In a July 10 comment letter regarding the proposed rule, GFOA expressed concern “that some of the proposed changes that were intended to ensure proper management and expenditures of federal funds could simultaneously increase the administrative and cost burdens of pursuing a federal grant.” 

The letter, signed by GFOA Executive Director and CEO Christopher Morrill, said GFOA is primarily concerned that the planned Oct. 1 implementation date “will be nearly impossible to meet for most recipients of federal awards.” 

GFOA believes “there are several areas of the proposed rule that need to be expanded upon or reconsidered for state and local governments to effectively implement a final rule,” the letter said. 

“We understand that changing the uniform guidance to uniform regulation will make these rules binding and enforceable by law,” the letter said. “As such, we urge OMB to consider delaying the final implementation or effective date for the transition from guidance to regulation.”

GFOA’s letter also said Moody’s Ratings has indicated that discretionary termination and suspension of federal awards may prove to be a credit negative for issuers of tax-exempt muni bonds that accepted federal awards. 

“Not only does this provision add additional risk to seeking federal funds, but it could make financing long-term essential projects through capital markets more expensive for state and local governments and our taxpayers,” GFOA’s letter said. 

GFOA’s membership consists of more than 35,000 state and local government finance officers, the letter said, a significant portion of whom also serve to varying degrees as the administrators of federal funds. 

Those more than 35,000 members are “subject matter experts” and “the lifeblood of our organization and what we do,” Mellerio said. 

“I am merely their voice in Washington,” she said, adding, however, “keeping things high level for a federal audience … while also being comprehensive about the way public finance works” can be challenging. 

Still, the ability to leverage GFOA members’ subject matter expertise and real-life examples of how federal policy decisions impact their communities “is really effective storytelling and lobbying,” Mellerio said. 

Looking ahead to the November midterm elections, it’s already clear that, regardless of what else happens, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., won’t be returning as Senate Finance Committee members, Mellerio said. Both Cornyn and Cassidy suffered primary defeats. 

“John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy have been great champions of the tax-exempt status and of municipal bonds,” she said, adding that their presence on the Senate Finance Committee next year definitely will be missed. “But we’ll look forward to …  meeting with and educating the new members of the committee and the new members that get elected to the 120th Congress on these issues.” 

Mellerio, who graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2017, once served as a congressional intern. She and her husband live in Alexandria, Va., along with their 90-pound Goldendoodle, Cannoli.