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BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
A coalition of affordable housing and environmental activists are urging Gov. Jon Corzine to conditionally veto legislation described as an economic stimulus bill that was approved by the Legislature on Monday.
The activists with the Coalition for Affordable Housing and the Environment want Corzine to focus the proposal on subsidizing redevelopment in economically distressed areas and not what they describe as greenfields.
The way they see the "New Jersey Economic Stimulus Bill of 2009,'' which is sponsored by Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) and Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union) the measure is a tax give-away to developers, increases areas for eminent domain, is of no public benefit, provides no restrictions on pay to play, permits building in environmental sensitive areas, and creates more sprawl and over-development.
"By conditionally vetoing this bill so it applies to redevelopment areas only, this bill may do some good while eliminating a lot of the bad," said Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club of New Jersey, a coalition group.Rob Corrales, a Corzine spokesman, said the governor support the bill and does not intend to provide a conditional veto.
"This is part of a second round of stimulus legislation aimed at improving businesses in New Jersey,'' Corrales said. "The governor supports and intends on signing this legislation.
In an address to the New Jersey Business and Industry's Economic Development Forum on Tuesday, Lesniak said, "I've been calling my economic stimulus legislation, which now awaits Governor Corzine's signature, ‘The most powerful economic growth tool on the planet.' If its impact on the city of Elizabeth is typical, I might have to change my assessment from ‘on the planet' to ‘in the universe.' "
"This bill provides tax incentives not just to redevelop on brownfields (cities) but also to build on green areas of our cities and inner ring suburbs. It means public funds will go directly into builders' pockets, without having to prove that any public good will result,'' said Sandy Batty, the coalition's co-chairperson. "Instead, tax dollars should be reserved for the most distressed areas of our state."
"The bill should focus on promoting community development and economic growth in the most distressed areas,'' said Arnold Cohen of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, a group that is part of the coalition. "It's where our members, non-profit community development corporations, do tremendous work stabilizing neighborhoods where low- and moderate-income people live. However, the bill allows valuable resources to be used in areas where market forces are strong and no incentive for construction is needed. The governor needs to limit it to economically distressed areas on a previously developed site."
"This legislation needs to be modified to make it easier to use as tax increment financing is used in other states,'' said Dianne Brake of Plan Smart New Jersey, another coalition group. "It should be used specifically to invest in new public transportation infrastructure, sidewalks and other improvements to the community. This bill does not specify that these are the kinds of uses on which public dollars would be spent."
