Simms will investigate how ostensibly race-neutral government budget and policy processes create and sustain racial inequity within metropolitan areas. She focuses on the experience of a majority-Black and middle-class jurisdiction’s capacity to maintain high-quality public goods and services. Simms will draw on participant observation and interviews with 58 elected and non-elected leaders and residents of Prince George’s County (PGC), Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., which is the local jurisdiction with the largest concentration of middle-class African Americans, as well as budget information from PGC and neighboring counties.