Dr. Amanda Kass is an interdisciplinary scholar who holds a PhD in Urban Planning and Policy, a MA in Geography and BA in Geography and International Studies. Her research interests include public finance, public pensions, housing markets, and urban governance, particularly at the local scale. Her current project, supported by the Joyce Foundation, focuses on the American Rescue Plan Act's State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund program, which delivered $350 billion in emergency aid to U.S. states, cities, counties, towns and villages. Her work has been published in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, Progress in Human Geography and Urban Affairs Review. She has appeared in various media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times and WTTW's Chicago Tonight. Prior to joining the faculty at DePaul she was the associate director of the Government Finance Research Center in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC).