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Legislators rush $600 million open space ballot question to approval without public comment

TOM HESTER

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

In the past five days, two legislative committees have approved in a total of seven minutes without public comment a proposal that would ask voters to approve a $600 million open space preservation bond referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot.

The Assembly Environmental and Solid Waste Committee took two of those minutes to unanimously approve the measure with bipartisan support on Monday. The Senate Environmental Committee took five minutes on Thursday to approve the upper house version 4-1 with bipartisan support.

Critics of the proposal and the decision by the committees' chairmen, Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex) and Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) not to permit public input prior to the vote, charge the lawmakers are "attempting to provide green cover'' for Gov. Jon Corzine as he seeks re-election. The critics argue voters will not support a $600 million bond issue, which would equal the second largest in state history, amid a struggling economy.

"I think what the Legislature has done is despicable,'' said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, which opposes the proposal. "They don't want a public hearing because they don't want the public to raise concerns about the bond act. In my 20 years in Trenton I have never seen anything like this. They are pushing this legislation through like they were approving Succotash Week.''

Derek Roseman, a spokesman for the Assembly Democrats, said the environmental committees held a joint hearing on open space in April and public input was accepted there. However, the specific $600 million bond issue question had yet to be proposed.

McKeon was not immediately available Monday evening to respond to Tittel's criticism, but earlier in the day he said, "The New Jersey open space program is the nation’s most successful land preservation program, yet it has been left penniless while critical tracts of open space, farmland or historic sites are unprotected. Allowing this program to languish is an expense New Jerseyans simply cannot afford. Neglect of this program would have serious impacts on our environment, health and quality of life.”

The legislation, A-3901, would authorize the sale of  $600 million in bonds to preserve land through the state’s Garden State Preservation Trust program. The GSPT is about to run out of funds on July 1.

The proposal has caused an unusual split among New Jersey environmental activists. The Sierra Club of New Jersey and the New Jersey Environmental Federation want the state find a funding source that does not rely on bonding. New Jersey's bond debt is $32 billion. They argue the measure would tie the state’s hands financially for the next 20 years.

"How are we going to pay for it given massive budget shortfalls and 30 percent cuts to the Department of Environmental Protection for the past two years?,'' Tittel said. "The question would lead to another 15 percent ($30 million) cut in core environmental programs. So we’re going to have money for open space but close state parks, handicap programs, and after school care for troubled youth?”

“Our groups have worked as hard as anyone to renew and strengthen the state’s open space program. That’s why we can’t support this bill,'' said David Pringle, lobbyist for the New Jersey Environmental Federation. "We need a money source not borrowed money – it’s not right to kick the can down the road and make the next generation pay.”

On the other hand, a number of members of the New Jersey Keep it Green Campaign, a coalition of 115 organizations supporting the rene wal of GSPT, who were present at the committee hearing, applaud the proposal. Many of the coalition's non-profit members receive state aid for open space preservation.

“Without this funding, many of the historic places that give our communities character are at risk of being lost forever, said John Hatch, Preservation New Jersey president. "We need to create more opportunities for community revitalization and renewal as well as provide jobs for our citizens by saving these historic treasures."

"We applaud the legislators’ support for sustaining the Trust,'' said Tom Wells, lobbyist for the Nature Conservancy of New Jersey. "Our efforts to preserve New Jersey's natural lands depend it.  Without the Garden State Preservation Trust, our ability to preserve land for the benefit of our state will slow to a trickle, precisely at the time when real estate prices are in our favor."

“A replenished Garden State Preservation Trust would invest significantly in urban parks, farmland and historic preservation projects that will keep our children active, our food more locally-grown, and our rich heritage alive,” said Anthony Cucchi, director of the Trust for Public Land. “It will also enable us to continue investing in natural areas that maintain our clean water, clean air, and the healthy environment for our families.”

Assemblywoman Celeste Riley (D-Cumberland), another prime co-sponsor of the bill, disagrees with critics of the measure. “We must continue our legacy of aggressively protecting New Jersey’s diminishing areas of open space and farmland,”  she said. “This bond act would create a dedicated stream of funding  to support the state’s ongoing efforts to preserve critical tracts of land, including farmlands and historic sites, and voters would have final say on whether it should go forward.”

The measure was released unanimously from bi-partisan support and sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration. Corzine and legislative leaders want to see the proposal approved by June 30 when the Legislature recesses for the summer.