Friday, April 13, Washington Post
Area Panel on Roads Examines New Role

“ It was not the first meeting of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, but last night's was the first that mattered.

“ After essentially sitting idle for the past five years, the authority was granted power this month to raise about $400 million in local fees and taxes to pay for regional transportation projects….

“The authority is a strange creation in Virginia politics: empowered to make major taxing, funding and construction decisions but restricted by the General Assembly to voting on fees and increases approved by legislators….

“Although no voters cast ballots for authority members, 12 of its 14 voting members are elected officials on other bodies. The authority includes the top elected official, or a designee, from each of the nine Northern Virginia jurisdictions; two members appointed by the House of Delegates; one appointed by the Senate; and two appointed by the governor.

“‘It's a strange combination, really,’ said Mark J. Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University. ‘You could have some real accountability problems. Members have a lot of power to affect a lot of people outside their voting jurisdiction.’”

Sunday, April 15, Daily Press
Assembly’s GOP faces internal challenges

“Now that the General Assembly has wrapped up business for 2007, the election season can get under way. All 140 seats in the legislature are on the ballot, which happens only once every four years….

“Republican leaders in the General Assembly—many of whom don't support higher taxes—voted for the tax-and-toll transportation bill in the name of pragmatism, saying it was far from perfect but represented the best possible deal. . . .

“‘It seems like the party has to perform an impossible tightrope act here,’” said Mark Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University. Incumbents are ‘walking between the right wing of the party that wants total fidelity to principle, and on the other side, they are trying to expand the party base to continue to command majority status. They can't find a way to satisfy these different constituencies.’”

Sunday, April 15, New York Times
Parsing the Truths about Visas for Tech Workers

"This month, the government announced that it had received more petitions for H-1B visas in one day than it could grant in the entire fiscal year that begins in October. It received 150,000 petitions; the current visa cap is 65,000. Technology lobbying groups declared that the immediate overflow demand for H-1B visas was proof of the skills shortage in the United States and the need for a sharply higher visa limit. But some immigration policy experts and economists say that this argument fails a simple test of economics. It is not surprising, they say, that global companies—including I.B.M., Microsoft and Oracle—that benefit from the H-1B program would like to see it enlarged. 'There is no labor market test, using technically sound criteria, to determine whether or not there is a shortage,' says David Hart, an associate professor of public policy at George Mason University. The measures, Mr. Hart suggests, would include recent wage trends and unemployment rates in specific professions."

Monday, April 16, Associated Press
Ticket Taxes Fund Airports for the Rich

"The federal government has taken billions of dollars from the taxes and fees paid by airline passengers every time they fly and awarded it to small airports used mainly by private pilots and globe-trotting corporate executives. Some of these 'general aviation' facilities used the federal dollars—more than $7 billion over the past decade— for enhancements such as longer runways and passenger terminals aimed at luring traffic, an Associated Press review has found. And the money comes with little oversight, and at the expense of an increasingly beleaguered air transportation system. 'What are people getting for their money?' said Kenneth Button, a professor of transportation at George Mason University's School of Public Policy and an expert on air transit taxation. 'Delays are increasing. How can consumers make a sensible assessment on how the money is being spent? You need an abacus to figure out all the costs.'"

Sunday, April 22, Daily Press
Super Duper Tuesday could leave Va. voiceless

“First off, forget Feb. 12 and pay attention to Feb. 5. That day is shaping up into what some are calling a de facto national primary. More than 20 states are either holding or considering election contests that day. Pundits are calling it Super Duper Tuesday.

“That means Feb. 12 could come too late in the game.

“‘Chances are, we will see the field relatively settled by the time the campaign comes to Virginia,’ said Mark Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University. ‘In fact, there is a very strong likelihood that we will have a de facto nominee for each party by then.

“‘The schedule has very likely minimized Virginia's potential impact,’ he said.”

Monday, April 30, Washington Post
More Jobs than People in Fairfax; Study Predicts Future Shortage of Workers

“Over the next 25 years, the number of new jobs in Fairfax County will far exceed the supply of qualified workers to fill them, according to a projection released last week. By 2030, Fairfax County, which has become the region's primary employment center, is expected to add 729,000 jobs, an 89 percent increase over 2005. But the county's population is expected to grow only 44 percent, or 454,000. The disparity will force many companies to import nearly half of their workforces from other areas and could impair the county's ability to attract employers, according to Stephen S. Fuller, director of George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis.”

Sunday, May 6, New York Times
The Guy Who Picks the Best Places to Live

“Every so often, a report comes out listing the best (or worst) cities to live in, the most romantic, the most child-friendly or the most affordable. The cities at the top gloat; those at the bottom ignore the findings or dismiss them as skewed or irrelevant. But in one part of the country, little changes... The man responsible for many of those rankings, Bert Sperling, continues to plug away, dividing his time between Portland and Depoe Bay, Ore., compiling yet more data for yet more lists, just as he has for the last 20 years. …Although Mr. Sperling may grab headlines for the rankings, his web site is what is really useful for people planning a move, says Richard Florida, the Hirst professor of public policy at George Mason University. It offers various cost-of-living calculations, as well as information about schools and amenities, and allows users to take a quiz to help find the best place to live. ‘You need information based on life stage, job and a cluster and bundle of amenities, such as schools, health care, culture,’ Florida says, and Mr. Sperling ‘tends to be good at assessing most, if not all, of that.’”

Thursday, May 10, BusinessWeek Online
The Danger of Real Estate Incentives

“[A] favorite tease to put in home listings: ‘Call for the latest juicy incentives.’ The practice, which popped up last year as a way for builders to move unsold inventory, has now spread aggressively to the existing-home market, which accounts for 85 percent of all sales. And it's not just furniture being used to sweeten the deal. The latest trend is cash enticements to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. There are no national numbers, but in the Washington area, deals with some form of seller subsidy jumped from 35 percent to 58 percent in two years, according to Lisa Fowler, a researcher at George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis. The average home sold there for $470,000 in April, with a subsidy of $9,700. Such a rise has serious implications. The incentives, which don't figure into the national home-price data reported by industry groups, may be masking a steeper downturn. Fowler found that prices in D.C. fell by 0.2 percent over the past year if incentives were included, compared with a 0.7 percent rise if they weren't.”