Princeton, NJ - September 16 2008 - A new study on migration patterns released today by the Policy Research Institute for the Region (PRIOR) at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs reveals that New Jersey’s net loss of residents to other states is not a symptom of weak economic conditions, and that the state is experiencing a “brain gain” of highly educated residents to New Jersey.

The study, “Trends in New Jersey Migration: Housing, Employment and Taxation, http://www.princeton.edu/prior/PRIOReconomy-Final-(2).pdf provides a detailed analysis of recent migration into and out of New Jersey.

The report also indicates that in spite of net out-migration, the number of half-millionaries in New Jersey has increases sharply in recent years, from 26,000 in 2002 to 44,000 in 2006 (a 70% increase)

PRIOR is pleased to announce the release of its latest publication, "Land and Power: The Impact of Eminent Domain in Urban Communities."

The publication is the result of a conference co-sponsored by PRIOR and the Penn Institute for Urban Research, in which scholars, students, advocates, and experts in land use law, planning and development convened to analyze a broad span of issues surrounding eminent domain in the wake of the 2005 Kelo v. City of New London U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
The ruling set a precedent allowing local governments to seize people’s homes and businesses under the Fifth Amendment— even against their will — for private economic development so long as it benefits the community as a whole. The conference placed particular emphasis on the ruling’s impact on the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania regions.
 “Land and Power” features three essays by conference speakers that address the impact of Kelo in the tri-state area; how groups and actors have misused the Kelo decision to advance individual agendas; and how media portrayals of eminent domain have influenced public opinion.
 An introduction by Thomas Hale, a Princeton politics Ph.D. candidate, provides an overview of Kelo’s impact, current and futures issues in the tri-state area and the role of the media. Richard Keevey, director of the Policy Research Institute for the Region, authored the report’s preface.
 The Policy Research Institute for the Region was established to bring together policy makers in the local New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania region with researchers and students from the University and other institutes to address pressing policy issues and new, focused research. 
 For more information about the report please contact Georgette Harrison at gharriso@princeton.edu.

PRIOR is pleased to announce the release of its latest publication A View from the Top: A Conversation with Former Governors about Abbott v. Burke, an edited volume recently published by the Policy Research Institute for the Region (PRIOR) at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

PRIOR was established to utilize the various resources of the Princeton University community to help address the increasingly interdependent policy issues that face the governments and officials of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The publication is the result of the 2007 conference of the same name, at which Brendon Byrne, Jim Florio, and Donald DiFrancesco offered their unique perspectives on the landmark education decision and the challenges its implementation presents for New Jersey.
The governors concurred that New Jersey has reached a juncture at which the terms established in Abbott v. Burke require renegotiation, and discussed Governor Corzine’s recently introduced School Funding Reform Act which was signed into law in January, 2008.

Contributors to the conference and the publication also include Dick Leone, former New Jersey State Treasurer and President of the Century Foundation; Gordon MacInnes, senior education policy expert at the Woodrow Wilson School; and Lucille Davy, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education. Included in this volume is an essay by Commissioner Davy explaining the details of the new law.
 

On September 12, 2008 PRIOR and the Princeton University Department of Molecular Biology co-sponsored a one-day conference on “Access to Universal Health Care: New Jersey, The Nation and the Globe.” Over 200 students, scholars and practitioners gathered at the Woodrow Wilson School to hear experts discuss an issue that Princeton’s Dr. Dan Notterman called “The great unfinished business of our generation- Universal Health Care.”
Senator Joseph F. Vitale; NJ Health and Senior Services Commissioner Heather Howard; and NJ Business and Industry Association VP for Health and Legal Affairs Christine A. Stearns discussed universal health care in New Jersey, emphasizing the problem of providing health care to people who are eligible for inclusion in the system, but aren’t enrolled, the challenge of making it affordable for small business owners to provide coverage for employees, and making a reform plan sustainable.
Uwe Reinhardt, Maggie Mahar, and Eziekiel J. Emmanuel discussed options for financing health care, the systems implemented in other countries, the need for comparative-effectiveness research, and a focus on sustainability that addresses costs and quality, as well as the delivery system for health care. Emmanuel stated that “True health care reform requires changing the financial and distribution systems.”
Len Nichols talked about the competing views of health care reform and concluded that there is a need for both practical idealism and bi-partisan reform.
The final panel with Nancy Turnball, Merrill Mathews, and Brian Rosman discussed the Massachusetts experience and lessons learned. Matthews described himself as the “dark cloud” in the group and warned that reformers oversell the benefits and underestimate costs. He reminded the audience that New Jersey has the highest health insurance costs in the nation and stated that, “The markets work in health care with the right incentives.”
One point with which all of the discussants seemed to agree is that the states are unlikely to be able to achieve universal health care on their own- the federal government is going to have to craft a national program to achieve this goal.