A Two-Week Window to Get Open-Space Preservation on Ballot

By Tom Johnson, NJ Spotlight

In a race against time, a legislative committee yesterday tried to revive a proposal to spend $200 million a year to preserve open space, farmland, and historic treasures -- a prospect even its many proponents describe as dubious at best.

The Senate Environment and Energy Committee held a public hearing in the Statehouse Annex on a slimmed-down version of an earlier measure that would ask voters this fall to approve a constitutional amendment to dedicate a portion of the state’s sales tax to the preservation effort.

But in order to get on the ballot this November, the bill needs to be approved by both houses of the Legislature by August 1, a very tall order considering lawmakers are usually loath to be called back into session during the summer months.