Shore Senators: State Sandy Aid Could be Needed in the Future

The failure of a bill that would have would have placed a question on the November election ballot asking voters statewide to allocate $200 million from sales tax revenue each year to go toward open space funding followed worries about future Sandy recovery funding from Shore legislators.

They said in a statement this week that given the depletion of federal recovery funding, there could be a need for state funding to be used to help area residents who require assistance.

The bill to place the open space question on the ballot received support from 22 of 40 state senators, less than the three-fifths majority required, rendering a potential vote by the state's General Assembly, which was to be set for Thursday, useless.

There is a chance the program could come up for another vote next year should the senate secure 24 votes and assembly members grow to support the plan. But Shore area legislators said this week that they would be unlikely to support a bill such as the one proposed due to concerns that the allocation could disrupt Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts.

"We've heard for years how tight the state's budget situation is, so we are extremely concerned that the constitutional dedication of $200 million of state revenue annually to open space preservation will come at the expense of other critical needs like continuing Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts," state senators Christopher Connors, James Holzapfel and Robert Singer (all R-Ocean) said in a statement.

The trio said their offices in recent weeks have received "an increasing number of reports" from constituents whose requests for federal Sandy aid have been denied due to the programs running out of money or their failure to qualify under pre-set income requirements.

"At some point, after all of the federal recovery aid has been disbursed, we may need to assess whether gaps remain in our recovery efforts that would require additional state assistance," the group said.

Passing a constitutional amendment to dedicate a fixed amount of funding to open space each year would "tie the state's hands financially," they said.

"We are all supporters of open space preservation, but we need to balance that desire against the absolute need for our communities to rebuild and for families to move back into their homes," their statement said.