The city controller presented Pittsburgh’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) on May 1, showing results from 2025, a year in which the city ran a deficit. The controller expressed the need for growth and a focus on core services to stabilize city finances.
Introduction: Policy Brief Vol. 26, No. 15, examined the negative effects associated with a potential $15 per hour minimum wage hike in Pennsylvania. This Policy Brief will primarily address the argument that Pennsylvania must raise its minimum wage as a matter of economic competition with surrounding states that have already done so.
The administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and its legion of acolytes, insist that raising the Keystone State’s minimum wage to $15 an hour is a matter of keeping the commonwealth competitive with other states and will bolster population and employment.
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.
