Has your community group signed up for the Fall “Redd Up?” happening October 15-17 in neighborhoods throughout the region? Contact your neighborhood organization to find out how you can participate. More info here.
Oct
07
Dec
22
Prevailing Wage Bill Passes
Recently, Pittsburgh City Council introduced a bill that would require prevailing wage to be paid to certain classifications of service workers employed by the City or on projects of receiving City subsidies. The stated intent of the bill was to require developers receiving City assistance to reciprocate by providing fair-paying jobs to building service workers, hotel workers, and grocery employees. The bill is part of a larger effort to rethink the way economic development is done in the City of Pittsburgh.
Service employees in office and industrial buildings and complexes of at least 100,000 square feet, hotels of at least 100,000 square feet, grocery stores of at least 30,000 square feet, shopping malls, and sports stadiums that received at least $100,000 in city subsidies would be paid a prevailing wage under this bill. Prevailing wage is defined as the aggregate of hourly wages, benefits, and paid time off earned by a majority of workers in a particular job classification within the City of Pittsburgh. While a living wage bill would increase the minimum wage across employment sectors, prevailing wage is set by the market.
Initially, there was concern that the legislation could negatively affect development projects in Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods. Though the bill was intended to impact only large scale developments, rather than neighborhood-scale projects, many in the community development field worried that the legislation could preclude certain businesses from locating in their neighborhoods. The bill had been authored by representatives of the service workers union, SEIU, and was tremendously popular among labor interests. Upon introduction by Council President Doug Shields, the bill immediately received 6 additional co-sponsors, meaning that 7 of the 9 Council members co-sponsored the bill.
The legislation was introduced on Tuesday, November 17th and a preliminary vote was anticipated the following Monday. However, PCRG and others asked that the bill be held to allow time to better understand its intent, applicability, and potential impacts to community development. Over the next few weeks, PCRG maintained contact with community organizations, Council members, SEIU, and developers. We hosted an information session and roundtable for community stakeholders, where we invited Council President Shields along with SIEU Area Director and bill author, Gabe Morgan, to discuss and clarify the legislation. This session led to a follow-up working session to discuss potential clarifications and amendments that make the bill easier to understand and interpret.
PCRG’s membership is diverse–ranging from citizens’ councils to large community development corporations–and thus our members had divergent views on the legislation. While some members supported the bill as it was written, others wanted some clarifications and amendments in the final bill, and still others were opposed due to concerns that it would halt development in their neighborhoods. Following a vote by the Board of Directors, it was decided that PCRG would remain neutral on the legislation, but would continue to act as an educator and convener of stakeholders.
On December 21st–just 5 weeks after the bill was introduced–it was unanimously passed by Council. The final bill was amended by substitution by Councilman William Peduto, and addressed some of the initial concerns that were brought to the working sessions regarding wage reporting requirements, retroactivity, and definitions of “covered” projects. Councilman Peduto’s amendments also decreased the size of covered grocery stores to 25,000 square feet and expanded the definition of covered projects to include mixed use developments.
At present, the impacts of the bill are still unknown, but it is our hope that the legislation will benefit the lowest wage earners in the city’s service sector without deterring businesses from locating in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, where residents desperately need access to goods and services. PCRG seeks to continue to work with Council on legislation that will benefit Pittsburgh neighborhoods and residents.
For more information on prevailing wage, contact Emily Anderson at outreach@pcrg.org or 412.391.6732 x207.
Oct
02
Register TODAY for the Project Management Lunch & Learn!
On Wednesday, October 7th Eric Jester, Project Manager for East Liberty Development, Inc. will be presenting a 3 hour session on Project Management.
Project Management is a critical skill to help you save time and money at work! At the end of the workshop you’ll be able to break down a large project into manageable pieces. In-class case studies will help you apply what you’ve learned; enabling you to take these skills back to work immediately!
Please see the attached flier for a full course description.
The session will be held at the Regional Enterprise Tower (425 Sixth Avenue, 15219) and will run from 9:30am to 1pm. Lunch will be provided.
Because this workshop is more involved than a typical PCRG Lunch & Learn, the price has increased slightly.
PCRG Members will receive a discounted registration fee of $20, and all other registrants can register for $40.
Space is limited, so RSVP today!
If you have questions or would like to RSVP, contact Sarah at sstutts@pcrg.org or 412-391-6732 x208
All RSVPs must be received by noon on Monday, October 5th.
Oct
02
State budget deal collapses
House Democrats tonight rejected a tentative $27.9 billion budget deal that had been reached with the Senate, which could cause additional lengthy delays in resolving the state’s 2009-10 budget situation.
The Democrats, who control the House by a 104-99 margin, rejected two key revenue-raising elements in the 2-week-old budget proposal. They rejected a proposed 20 percent tax on “small games of chance” run by fraternal groups, and also rejected the idea of extending the state sales tax to arts and cultural event tickets.
Read the full story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette here
Oct
02
Homeowners in financial trouble often redefault
Lenders are ramping up efforts to avoid home foreclosures, but a report by bank regulators says more than half of borrowers who get help fall behind again.
More than 50 percent of homeowners with loans modified in the first half of last year had missed at least two months of payments a year later, the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision said Wednesday.
Read the full story online here
Oct
02
Second quarter home foreclosures, mortgage delinquencies up
The number of home foreclosures in process and delinquent mortgages rose during the second quarter, while home retention actions also increased, U.S. bank regulators said on Wednesday.
Foreclosures jumped 16 percent to 2.9 percent of serviced mortgages, while home retention actions such as loan modifications rose 21.7 percent, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision said in a report.
Read the full story online here
Oct
02
1 in 3 Loan Applications Denied
Nearly one in three borrowers who applied for a mortgage last year was denied as lenders kept their standards tight as the mortgage crisis accelerated, the government reported Wednesday.
In its annual look at mortgage practices among lending institutions, Federal Reserve said the denial rate for all home loans was about 32 percent last year — about the same as in 2007, but up from 29 percent in 2006. The denial rates for blacks and Hispanics were more than twice as high as the rate for white borrowers.
Read the full story online here
Sep
22
Homeowners who ‘strategically default’ on loans a growing problem
Who is more likely to walk away from a house and a mortgage — a person with super-prime credit scores or someone with lower scores? Research using a massive sample of 24 million individual credit files has found that homeowners with high scores when they apply for a loan are 50% more likely to “strategically default” — abruptly and intentionally pull the plug and abandon the mortgage — compared with lower-scoring borrowers. National credit bureau Experian teamed with consulting company Oliver Wyman to identify the characteristics and debt management behavior of the growing numbers of homeowners who bail out of their mortgages with none of the expected warning signs, such as nonpayments on other debts. Read the full story from the LA Times online here.
Sep
16
Pennsylvania budget stalemate called worst ever
Pennsylvania’s 78-day budget impasse is the longest the state has faced in modern history, and it is having the most impact on groups that receive state money. “This is much more intense, and it’s much more prolonged” than a 1971 budget stalemate and another budget battle in 1977, said Vincent Carocci, former press secretary to the late Gov. Robert P. Casey, an ex-Senate aide and author. In 1970, under the late Republican Gov. Raymond P. Shafer, the General Assembly never approved a budget, but there was a stop-gap spending plan in place to cover two-thirds of expenditures. The following year, Democratic Gov. Milton Shapp submitted budgets for 1970-71 and 1971-72. Read the full article in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review here.
Sep
11
Foreclosures Stay Near Record Highs, Won’t Peak Until Late 2010
The carefully watched monthly RealtyTrac data on foreclosures was released earlier today and it paints a picture of a national foreclosure situation that is not improving and is not likely to improve until a year from now. The new data from the service shows foreclosure filings were reported on 358,471 U.S. properties during August, a decrease of less than 1% from the previous month but still an increase of nearly 18% from August 2008. The report also shows one in every 357 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure notice in August. Read the full story online here.