Colin McNickle Columns category, Page 5

Allegheny County Council could not muster enough votes to override the county executive’s veto of a mandatory paid sick-leave ordinance for private businesses. Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald said that while he supports paid sick leave, the legislation did not originate where it should have — with the county health board...

Those in some quarters are predicting dire business, consumer and commuter behavior consequences should PennDOT toll nine interstate bridges across the state to pay for much-need repairs and maintenance. But an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy suggests the effects will be relatively minimal and likely the best...

There can be no doubt that Greater Pittsburgh’s jobs situation for 2020 was, in a word, disappointing, concludes the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic warrants the lion’s share of the blame. But the Pittsburgh think tank’s analysis also puts into stark perspective a nagging fact....

The Allegheny Institute for Public Policy is reiterating its long-standing call for the state Legislature to repeal Pennsylvania’s prevailing wage law. “Many studies over the years involving many states have demonstrated the higher construction costs … that are caused by prevailing wage laws that require ‘prevailing wages and benefits’ be...

It was seven years ago this month that pension reforms for the Allegheny County Retirement System took effect. But it is not out of the woods yet and additional steps would be prudent, concludes a new analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. There has been no talk of...

The coronavirus pandemic hammered Pennsylvania’s economy in 2020. But the key to economic recovery — once a more predictable regimen of vaccinations is firmly in place and covid-19 begins to abate — must be a careful study in what government should and should not do, stress researchers at the Allegheny...

These hardly are halcyon days for Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). Its operations have been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. And there’s great uncertainty ahead, what with the discombobulated vaccination regimen and new covid-19 mutations being reported on a regular basis. “The board of the Allegheny County Airport Authority must take...

Concrete steps must be taken to reduce the Port Authority’s costs but also to find a better dedicated funding stream for the mass-transit agency, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “Whatever the Legislature comes up with, the egregiously high costs at the Port Authority of Allegheny...

Awash in rising debt because of dubious public policies and struggling to overcome the financial effects of the continuing coronavirus pandemic, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) could find its very ability to operate in jeopardy, finds an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “The PTC has been placed...

Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) yet again used fund reserves to balance its 2021 general fund budget, a practice it has employed since 2016. But the school district has a long way to go to address its high expenditures, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “PPS’ trends...

The enrollment and financial woes of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) are well known. And fixing the mess will be a monumental challenge, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. The 14-school system’s enrollment has plunged by 21% from its 2010 peak of 119,513...

The coronavirus pandemic should be teaching us many things about inappropriate government action. But it also should be teaching us about equally arbitrary and capricious government inaction, concludes a new analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. As the Pittsburgh think tank reminds, the Allegheny County Board of Property...

A massive hike in the cost of new shale gas well permits raises serious questions about the operations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and could imperil the very industry that has contributed so much to the Keystone State economy, says a scholar at the Allegheny Institute for...

Right-to-work (RTW) laws perennially have been tied to the whipping post erected by organized labor and flogged for everything from allegedly reducing workers’ voices to driving down wages and reducing the economic well-being of all workers, union and nonunion alike, according to one “progressive” group. But a new study by...

The coronavirus pandemic and state-ordered restrictions on travel-related industries resulted in massive declines in passenger counts at the nation’s airports during the March-through-June period. “Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) was no exception,” say Frank Gamrat, executive director of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, and Jake Haulk, the president-emeritus of the...

It is an idea whose time should not come again in local governance, researchers at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy say: Allegheny County Council has proposed an ordinance, that as in the City of Pittsburgh, would mandate that businesses offer paid sick leave to their employees. “This is a...

A large majority of municipal pension plans in Allegheny County are in good shape. But the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused tremendous economic damage, could challenge those plans’ health and deepen the woes of plans already struggling, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “With the fiscal...

Government jurisdictions of all sizes find themselves struggling with how to recoup lost tax receipts because of coronavirus pandemic-related shutdowns and restrictions. But there are sound public policy prescriptions to recover from such shortfalls. And poor ones. A researcher at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy proposes a sound, common-sense...

The beleaguered Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) has proposed merging six of its 14 schools into three. But an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy concludes that would be easier said than done. “Given all the obstacles to any reorganization, the chancellor and the trustees face...

What happens when, after tax dollars are dubiously conscripted for the benefit of private entities — and at the expense of the public weal — a pandemic hits? Allegheny County taxpayers might be about to find out, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County...

It was in April that Allegheny County, under the auspices of Pennsylvania Act 152 of 2016, increased by $15 the fee to record deeds and mortgages. The money is to be used to pay for the demolition of “blighted properties.” Allegheny County’s document-recording fee is now $181.75. Since 2013, when...

It was a challenging 2019 for a shale gas industry beset with a glut of product that kept prices low and aging wells as the impact fee distribution numbers for 2020 attest, shows an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. And while those prices remain a wild card...

It should come as no surprise that Pennsylvania’s casinos have seen a major reduction in overall revenues during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. After all, the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf deemed them “nonessential” businesses early in the pandemic, forcing them to close in mid-March and all of April and May....

The Greater Pittsburgh economy was dealt a huge blow by the coronavirus-related lockdown of businesses and citizens. And the latest-available payroll jobs numbers for the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) show a halting and uneven jobs recovery, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “The impact will...

If graduation criteria for Pennsylvania high school students set to begin with the class of 2022 were in effect today, a large percentage of students in a diverse group of 16 Allegheny County school districts would not meet the basic requirements, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public...