Blog Entries

Councilman Pushes Job Killing Wage Bill

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Councilman Burgess-along with his allies in the campaign for "living wage" bill-are still pushing hard for the legislation. In a comment filled with irony, the Councilman said at a hearing that it is unfair for "government to profit from the misery of the people who work for us."

Perhaps it has never dawned on [...]

The Lesson, Version 2010

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Who could have possibly found any long-lasting joy in the recent snowstorms that hit western Pennsylvania? Tree companies would certainly answer in the affirmative. In fact, several did in a news article this morning. Among the quotes: "It was just awesome the way everything happened this year, monetary-wise...This year because of the [...]

More Choices on the Tax Menu

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The real estate tax; the wage tax; the Local Services tax; the realty transfer tax; the parking tax; the poured alcohol tax; the gross receipts tax; the parking tax; the mechanical devices tax; the amusement tax...

You get the idea: there is a plethora of tax sources available to local government in Pennsylvania. That's why it is [...]

The Parking Lease: What’s Included?

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The City will arrive at a critical juncture in the next ten days: that because parties interested in pursuing a lease of the City's parking facilities have until 5 PM on March 19th to reply to the Request for Qualifications proposal. The lease (or concession, as it is described in the RFQ) will "grant certain operating management, and revenue coll [...]

$40 Million to Learn What Makes an Effective Teacher

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Pittsburgh has received $40 million from the Gates Foundation to figure out how to define and promote effective teaching. That is more money than many school districts spend in a year-true, not nearly as much as the outrageously expensive Pittsburgh school district that should already know what makes an effective teacher.

After unimagin [...]

Parking Garages on the Block in Harrisburg?

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

A city with budget woes, many of them related to long-term debt, comes up with a plan: why not lease or sell the parking structures owned by the city (or a related city authority) and use the proceeds to pay off the debt?

This sure sounds a lot like Pittsburgh, but as we've chronicled in earlier blogs and a Policy Brief it is Harrisburg t [...]

Mr. Ravenstahl Goes to Harrisburg

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Unlike Mr. Smith who went to Washington and attempted to do the noble thing by defending liberty and attacking graft, Mayor Ravenstahl is going to Harrisburg to plead for state money to help the City with its perennial and seemingly unfixable fiscal problems. After rebuffing the Legislature's efforts to help the City with its pension difficulties [...]

Exploring Privatization or Just Talk?

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

It was heartening to learn Pittsburgh officials are opening up to the idea of looking at outsourcing and other private sector involvement to solve the City's perennial fiscal problems. The Allegheny Institute has been arguing for such an approach for 15 years only to have our research and recommendations rebuffed by elected officials. Now, accor [...]

Pothole Ridden Thinking

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

A PG editorial this morning said that "the sorry condition of Pittsburgh streets is testimony to the fact that the city is not out of the fiscal woods". True, Pittsburgh is not out of the fiscal woods-it won't be until there is an execution of a plan to deal with legacy costs and bring per capita levels of spending down to more competit [...]

Questions on Garage Plan

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

An alternative has arisen to the Mayor's plan of leasing Parking Authority garages to a private interest in exchange for a lump sum payment (that sum would be used to pay off the Authority's debt and bring up the asset total of the City's pension funds): making the pension funds the "owner" of the garages.

News reports des [...]

Fighting Over Scraps in Pittsburgh

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

This is what a once great city has been reduced to. Federal community block grant funds of $16.5 million are being fought over by city council members with one member arguing that most of the money should go to the poorest communities. Let's review the situation. $16.5 million is about $53 per resident. Obviously, not enough money to make much [...]

Building a Great Nation without Public Pre-School

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

It never ceases to amaze how many supposedly intelligent people continually complain about the lack of adequate pre-kindergarten education. Just recently a local physician weighed in with such a pronouncement in an opinion column in the Post-Gazette. What is wrong with the argument? Consider this. How did the U.S. become the world's foremost economy and military power durin [...]

Will Pittsburgh Follow Central Falls, Rhode Island?

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Central Falls, Rhode Island made national headlines when the school superintendent fired the entire staff at the high school. The principal, teachers and even guidance counselors, were all informed that at the end of the school year their employment would be terminated. The superintendent did this under provisions the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) and in response to a poor graduation rate (52 percent [...]

Does PA Have any Cities on a Hill?

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Is there a conservative urban agenda? If so, what does it look like? Even more to the point, are there any cities in Pennsylvania exhibiting the traits if such an agenda existed?

A recent opinion piece in the Washington Examiner outlined "a conservative agenda for cities". Most of the components of the [...]

Federalizing Everything?

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Pittsburgh expects and laments that it will receive only a one-third Federal government reimbursement of the cost of snow removal incurred during the recent siege of winter weather.

One must ask. What is the purpose of municipal government? Keeping the streets open and usable for residents would certainly seem to be one o [...]

Casino Has a Long Way to Go

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

News that the Rivers Casino enjoyed its best week of gross terminal revenues since it began operations is hardly worth celebrating. The casino has not lived up to its hype and still faces a long struggle to earn the money to reach their revenue target.

From February 15th through 21st, the casino had its second best week with $4.8 million in gross terminal [...]

State won’t Bailout its Host City

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Regarding the tangled web of debt between the City of Harrisburg, Dauphin County, and the Harrisburg Authority over obligations on a trash incinerator and whether those obligations could lead Harrisburg into Act 47 distressed status or Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy, the Governor of Pennsylvania offered this statement:

"There's [...]

Lease Components Coalescing?

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Here is a summary of the recommendations of an advisory task force on the proposed parking lease:

The prospective lease holder would not be constrained by rate caps, but would be guided by "market factors, industry standards, and regional inflation"

A 50 year lease term

The Parking Authority would continue [...]

Tolling I-80 Only Helps Select Few

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) rejected the plan to toll Interstate 80 because it did not meet the requirements set forth by federal law. That is the revenues generated by the tolls were not to be used for the maintenance and upkeep of the road itself. Instead legislators and the architects of 2007's Act 44 viewed the highway as a cash cow to be milked for the benefit o [...]

I-80 Plan Still Running on Empty

info@alleghenyinstitute.org — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The PG's editorial board implored the Obama Administration to grant Pennsylvania its wish to place tolls on Interstate 80 and use the toll proceeds to subsidize other transportation needs (roads, bridges, and mass transit) around the state. Recall that the application (tolling I-80 is the centerpiece of the Commonwealth's transportation strategy under [...]