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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 a state pension takeover or leasing assets to shore up the system, as was the case with Pittsburgh and its pensions more than a decade ago.
“But much like Pittsburgh, as well as the state-level and municipal pension plans, the county certainly has to be aware of what effects the coronavirus and its impact on economic activity and, in turn, county finances could have on the retirement system,” says Eric Montarti, research director at the Pittsburgh think tank.
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 Institute for Public Policy.
“With recently released state employer payroll data for December, the extent of the damage can clearly be seen,” say Frank Gamrat, executive director of the Pittsburgh think tank, and Jake Haulk, its president-emeritus.
“Pennsylvanians lost jobs in nearly every sector, pushing employment to decade-ago levels,” the Ph.D. economists conclude (in
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A masked patron waits to board a Port Authority bus along Freeport Road April 20 in Harmar.
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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 County (PAAC) must be taken into consideration,” says Jake Haulk, president-emeritus of the Pittsburgh think tank.
Another year, another toll increase on the Pennsylvania Turnpike – a trend drivers will likely withstand for another three decades amid bleak traffic and revenue projections, according to a new report.