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Defending the Pittsburgh area taxpayers and businesses against the burdensome taxation and regulation of Big Government

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Mission Statement

The Allegheny Institute is a non-profit research and education organization. Our mission is to defend the interests of taxpayers, citizens and businesses against an increasingly burdensome and intrusive government. To that end, we will formulate and advocate public policies that roll back the size and scope of local government as well as create a more accountable government. Our efforts will be guided by the principles of free enterprise, property rights, civil society and individual freedom that are the bedrock upon which this nation was founded.

The changing mix of jobs in the Pittsburgh metro area

Introduction: This Policy Brief reviews the changes (growth or decline) in establishment payroll employment over the period 1990 to 2025 for the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).  The analysis examines overall private-sector jobs, as well as major industry categories and changes over major time intervals, during the 35-years—a period long...
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Latest from AI

Notes on the state of things
Another fee is determined to be a tax
Righting a grievous public policy wrong
A road to greater food independence
Pittsburgh’s 2026 budget ends its tumultuous journey
PASSHE dealing with difficulties

Accomplishments

Marcellus Shale

We have been studying the economic impacts of natural gas exploration in the Marcellus Shale formation for many years. We released a study gauging the economic impact in July 2011 (Policy Brief, Volume 11, Number 38 ) following up with...
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Turnpike Commission Debt

We weighed in on the Turnpike Commission’s plans to issue $450 million of new debt annually to cover mandated payments to the Department of Transportation. To cover the added debt service, the Commission anticipates significant, regular toll increases. Our analysis...
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PRT/Port Authority

In a Sunday feature editorial we commented on the new Port Authority contract with its union. In exchange for small concessions from the union, the Governor has pledged a bailout of the agency. This approach does nothing to end its...
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Property Reassessments

Our research into Allegheny County property reassessments goes back many years and included a full-length report on assessment standards and practices in Pennsylvania and other states. Research efforts continued to analyze and report on the progress of the 2012 reassessment...
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Education

The most recent Pennsylvania assessment exams showed a drop in the percentage of students scoring at the proficient or higher level. Education system apologists predictably pointed to declines in funding as the culprit while state officials claimed heightened security amid...
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Pittsburgh Area Employment

We continue to be one of the area’s leading experts and commentators on the Pittsburgh area’s employment picture. Research has culminated in Policy Briefs (Volume 12, Numbers 18, 34, and 47, and Volume 13, Numbers 2 and 7) that among...
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Policy Briefs

The changing mix of jobs in the Pittsburgh metro area

vol26
No: 18

Introduction: This Policy Brief reviews the changes (growth or decline) in establishment payroll employment over the period 1990 to 2025 for the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).  The analysis examines overall private-sector jobs, as well as major industry categories and changes over major time intervals, during the 35-years—a period long enough to evaluate long-term changes following the dramatic downturn in steel and related industry manufacturing from the 1950s through the 1970s.

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PASSHE dealing with difficulties

vol26
No: 17

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) has 10 universities with 14 campus locations that have undergone a drastic decline in enrollment since 2015. Although there has been a minor reversal in the latest couple of years, the prospect of future enrollment is not very good.

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Colin Mcnickle At Large

Notes on the state of things

From the email inbox — and a wag with whom we regularly converse – a response to last week’s “At Large” about gardening being a road to greater food independence:...
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Righting a grievous public policy wrong

Public hearings have begun on a long overdue Allegheny County proposal to mandate property reassessments every three years. Wonders never cease, we guess. We, of course, applaud the council’s epiphany....
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A road to greater food independence

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” goes the classic observation about the...
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Op-Ed

PASSHE still facing systemic challenges

vol26
No: 17

It’s no secret that Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools, now with 10 universities with 14 campuses, have undergone a drastic enrollment decline since their peak period in 2015 and 2016.

But even with school consolidations and a minor student-count reversal in recent years, a researcher at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy says the prospect for future enrollment gains is not very good.

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$15 minimum wage should be a nonstarter

vol26
No: 15

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed, and the state House has passed, a measure to raise the Keystone State’s minimum wage to $15 an hour to begin 2029. But a researcher at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy says the detriments of such an increase (if adopted by the state Senate and signed into law by the governor) will outweigh the purported benefits.

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In The News

Ready or not, here come reassessments
Countywide reassessments are necessary. Without them, property values become stuck in the past, while actual values, driven by the market, diverge farther and farther from the mark.
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The NFL Draft is 1% football — and 99% ‘selling Pittsburgh’
In different corners of the city this week, tech startups will pitch their products to billionaire judges, DJs and country artists will perform on new stages, pop-up museums, boutiques and...
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Jet lag: Is Pittsburgh International Airport feeling effects of regional economy’s struggles?
Even as Pittsburgh International Airport continues to add new routes — including one to Ireland next month — the region’s economic stagnation could be hampering its ability to attract more...
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Blog

Another fee is determined to be a tax

Seven months after invalidating the facilities usage fee (“jock tax”) for Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that another fee is really a tax. In the case Borough of West...
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Pittsburgh’s 2026 budget ends its tumultuous journey

On April 21, the mayor of Pittsburgh signed legislation that wrapped up the 2026 budget.  Unlike state budget impasses, there was an approved budget, though the process was a bit...
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Proposed ordinance would mandate regular reassessments in Allegheny County

At its regular meeting this week, Allegheny County Council will begin the process of considering an ordinance that would “undertake a reassessment of all properties within the County once every...
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PA Sporting Event and Tourism Promotion Funding

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PA Gaming Revenue 2025

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PPS contracting reforms

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Downtown Pittsburgh Office Vacancy Rate (Q3 2025)

ByAllegheny Institute |

Pittsburgh Land Bank

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Pennsylvania’s Electricity Generation

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