A New Jersey lawmaker is readying a proposal for the state to borrow billions of dollars for climate-resilience projects and disaster response — spending he calls essential amid worsening extreme weather and federal budget cuts.
Yet state Sen. Bob Smith (D) conceded his bid to ask voters to approve a $5 billion bond as early as November faces obstacles as New Jersey grapples with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit and voters face spiraling living costs.
“The single biggest political issue in the minds of New Jersey citizens is affordability,” Smith said. “The argument you have to make is that this will help them to survive the coming disasters.”
Smith, who chairs the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, isn’t even sure Democratic leaders would make the bond a legislative priority or if his fellow party members feel a similar urgency about climate change. Democrats have supermajorities in both legislative chambers, whose approval is needed to put the bond on the state ballot.
