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Week of February 4, 2008
The Fed took another step in the right direction
at the end of January when it cut short-term interest rates by another half of a percentage point to help shore up the weakening economy. [more]
NAHB pumped up support for an economic stimulus bill [more]
Targeting Congress with more hard-hitting ads [more]
Resolutions in the pipeline [more]
Merrill Lynch's flawed report on home prices [more]
Weak new-home sales numbers for the end of 2007 [more]
Calling on Congress to enact association health plan legislation, [more]
Put the 2008 NAHB Legislative Conference on your calendar [more]
Looking for updates on new-home technology? [more]
The Monday Morning Briefing returns after IBS, [more]
PBA seeking member input to address permitting delays
Many PBA members are forced to incur additional costs - in time, money and manpower - due to delays in state and local agency responses to permit applications (such as those experienced in receiving state Department of Environmental Protection approval for stormwater discharge permits needed for construction projects). In spite of some past attempts at reform aimed at alleviating these problems, such as a recent DEP initiative giving applicants the opportunity to use a DEP-established list of third-party consultants in order to review and help complete applications, such delays still persist in many areas of Pennsylvania. In order to illustrate the magnitude of the problem to state legislators and regulatory officials and underscore the need for a lasting solution, PBA would like to document instances in which permitting review and approval delays have caused economic harm to applicants and homebuyers alike. PBA is also seeking comments on House Bill 2128, introduced in December 2007 by Rep. Doug Reichley (R-Berks and Lehigh), which would require the Department to develop and implement a system of streamlining the permit review process for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System post-construction stormwater permits. The bill has been referred to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. Members interested in sharing their experiences with permitting delays, or in commenting on HB 2128, are encouraged to contact Grant Gulibon at (800) 692-7339, ext. 3013 or at ggulibon@pabuilders.org.
Three Bucks Dems announce for state House
By: Patrick Lester | Of the Morning Call
Three Bucks County Democrats have announced plans to run for state House seats that have historically been controlled by the GOP.
Tom Peterson, a 59-year-old teacher from Milford Township, is running for the 145th District that Republican Paul Clymer has represented for nearly three decades.
Diane C. Allison, a former Palisades school director from Tinicum Township, is trying to unseat Republican Marguerite Quinn in the 143rd District.
Mitchell B. Meyerson, a Chalfont councilman, is running in the 144th District now represented by Republican Katharine Watson.
All three Democrats are seeking their party's nomination in the May primary. All three Republican incumbents said they're running for another two-year term.
Warren in line for manager position
By: James McGinnis, Bucks County Courier Times
Ex-county commissioner and former director at PennDOT Andy Warren has unofficially been offered a $60,000 job as manager of Tullytown.
Borough Councilmen Ed Czyzyk and Ed Armstrong said they offered Warren the job and planned to make an announcement at tonight’s public meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the borough hall, 500 Main St. Armstrong said Warren, who wouldn’t confirm it Monday, has accepted the job.
Warren would replace Bob Shellenberger, the part-time coordinator. Shellenberger has been a figure in the local government for 50 years. He started out as a patrolman in 1958. Since then, he’s been manager, mayor, councilman, tax collector and landfill coordinator.
"The new majority on council clearly wants someone who can serve in a full-time position … and I am just not able to do that," Shellenberger said. His son, Joseph Shellenberger, is council president.
Unions: Minority membership 20%; most in one trade
By: Jane M. Von Bergen and Jeff Shields, Phildelphia Inquirer
One in five members of local construction unions belongs to a minority group, according to numbers released yesterday by the unions in the lead-up to City Council's vote to move ahead with the $700 million Convention Center expansion.
City Council had threatened to hold up the expansion if unions did not increase minority participation.
However, more than half of the 4,442 minority union members come from Laborers International Union of North America Local 332 - a predominantly African American union.
"There are [minority] numbers from some of these unions that by any standard are quite low," said Paul Clark, a professor of labor studies at Pennsylvania State University in State College.
"That's surprising to me, given the labor movement as a whole has been getting increasingly diverse."
Although 12 out of 15 unions provided statistics, some of the largest did not. Among the missing were the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Metropolitan Regional Council, which has 12,762 members, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, which has 4,543 members.
Electricians chief John J. Dougherty said officials should look at numbers over the last 10 years.
"Does Michael Nutter want to be judged on John Street's record?" Dougherty offered by way of analogy.
Dougherty said he would cooperate with a new advisory commission on diversity in the construction industry that Mayor Nutter established yesterday, but refused to give numbers to City Council, because, his spokesman said, Council is too political.
Senate Dems hope homebuilders will win GOP stimulus support
By J. Taylor Rushing
Senate Democrats hoping to win approval of the Finance Committee’s controversial economic stimulus bill are emphasizing the support the package is receiving from parts of the homebuilding industry.
The support of the homebuilding industry, which gives much more in political contributions to Republicans than Democrats, could be key given the tight votes on the package expected this week. 
To illustrate that support, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and three of the committee’s other Democrats held a press conference Tuesday with the chief executive officers of three of the country’s top homebuilders.
Fitzpatrick drops out of race
By: James McGinnis, Bucks County Courier Times
Former congressman and Bucks County commissioner Michael Fitzpatrick dropped out of the race for state representative in the 142nd district Tuesday, citing an "emerging family medical issue."
The 44-year-old Republican was officially in the race against Democrat Chris King for only two weeks, announcing his candidacy on Jan. 22.
Fitzpatrick said he had hoped that the representative seat in Harrisburg would have allowed him to spend more time at home, with his wife, Kate, and their seven children. Now, they need him more than ever, he said.
"As much as I love public service, my priorities must be with my family right now," he said. "I will certainly maintain my involvement in the community, but the time that will be required of me at home over the next 12 months will prevent me from effectively campaigning."
Fitzpatrick lost his seat in Congress in 2006, following a tight race with Democrat Patrick Murphy. Some wanted Fitzpatrick to re-take his chair representing the 8th congressional district in Washington. Signs along State Road in Bensalem read "Mike Fitzpatrick: Now More than Ever!"
Realtors say local market holding its own
By: Linda Finarelli, Staff Writer
Location, location, location - the mantra of the real estate market - is being given a new emphasis by some local Realtors wishing to dispel the notion that all is bad in the housing market.
Housing sales and prices fluctuate from neighborhood to neighborhood, they say, decrying the broad-brush negativity of some media headlines. Several top producers at Prudential Fox & Roach, Realtors, meeting recently to share ideas, insisted the local market is stable.
Existing-home sales nationally were down 12.8 percent in 2007 from 2006; and the single-family median sales price was $217,800, down 1.8 percent from 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales in the Philadelphia region, by comparison, were down 11.1 percent in 2007, with the median sales price up 1.8 percent, according to the Prudential Fox & Roach HomExpert Market Report, which is based on data compiled by the Trend Multiple Listing Service. The average amount of time a home was on the market increased from 51 days in 2006 to 62 in 2007.
The average sales price in the eight-county Philadelphia region has increased 60 percent over the last five years, said Joan Docktor, Prudential Fox & Roach executive vice president of sales. "Buyers are buying and sellers are selling because of life circumstances. Our market is not depressed."
The well-regarded educational, pharmaceutical and medical research institutions in the region contribute to its stability, Docktor said. In addition, "our housing is relatively affordable compared to other markets."
Fire chief to challenge King
By: Danny Adler, Bucks County Courier Times
Republican Frank Farry, a local fire chief and lawyer, is running against state Rep. Chris King for state representative in the 142nd District, he announced Wednesday night in front of about 75 supporters outside Langhorne’s borough hall.
Farry’s announcement came the day after former congressman and former Bucks County commissioner Mike Fitzpatrick dropped his two-week bid for Harrisburg because of an "emerging family medical issue." Fitzpatrick said Tuesday that Farry, 35, would make an excellent candidate.
"While reform is today’s buzzword, gridlock, partisanship and unacceptable use of taxpayer dollars continues to rule the day in state government," said Farry, chief of the Langhorne-Middletown Fire Co., and assistant township manager of Middletown before a throng of supporters, including family members, local officials, firefighters, and rescue workers.
