Important Ballot Questions on Election Day
By Albert B. Kelly
Next week, New Jersey voters will get to have their say,
from president on down. Beyond the candidates, there are some important public
questions on the ballot and they will have an impact on our state well into the
future.
When you step into the booth next Tuesday (November 8th),
you’ll see “Public Question 2- “New Jersey Dedication of All Gas Tax Revenues
to Transportation Amendment”. Before you decide how to vote on this question,
it helps to know what it’s about.
By voting “NO” on Question 2, you’re not avoiding some new
tax, the thing is a done deal- the question is not “if” there will be a new gas
tax, but only “where” the gas tax money will go- whether all of it will go to
transportation-related projects or only some of it.
It’s an important question because it goes to whether we
have all the revenue available to fix our transportation infrastructure (i.e.,
roads, bridges, highways, bike lanes, etc.) or only a portion of the money.
If this measure fails because a majority of people vote
“NO”, it means that future State budgets and the elected officials who approve those
budgets, could shift some of the gas tax money to other things that have little
to do with transportation needs.
If you’ve seen our roads and bridges lately, you know we’re
in a bad way. By voting “YES” on this question, voters are ensuring (via state
constitutional amendment) that some future governor or legislature can’t shift
the money to something else.
Voting “YES” is basically saying that since we’re paying a
gas tax, we want all the money to be available to fix the roads, bridges and
highways that we drive on everyday- infrastructure that’s critical to our
economy and our very safety.
But there’s more. A “YES” vote also means that more of this
transportation money will make its way down to the local level for eligible
projects in our smaller cities and towns.
This has a huge impact on productivity, growth and revitalization
at the local level.
Also, investing in infrastructure hopefully means putting
more people in our state back to work on these projects.
So I will be voting “YES” to Question 2 and I hope you will
also; I believe it is extremely important that all the gas tax money that gets
collected goes to transportation and infrastructure projects- not just a
portion of it.
No one likes paying dedicated taxes, but if we have to,
let’s make sure it’s doing the thing it was meant to do.
The other question (Question 1) on the ballot calls for
amending the Constitution to allow gambling in two more counties in our state outside
of Atlantic County and if my guess is right, this likely means North Jersey-
though the ballot doesn’t say.
Truth be told, I’m against anything that will further hollow
out the main industry that built Atlantic City.
While I don’t know the deep history of how the industry
evolved there, I know the struggles they’re having now and if the industry is
going to rebound in NJ, to the degree that it does at all, it should be in
Atlantic City. So I’m a “NO” vote on Question 1.
Beyond that, there are some local races that are very
important down at the street level. For the first time, the November ballot
will include our school board elections. Whatever you may think of the
presidential race, it’s all about accountability and responsibility when it
comes to our students.
The pundits all say that this is a “change election”.
Whether that’s true or not I don’t know, but the future of our community is
impacted by what does or doesn’t happen in a local school board election. This
alone is worth coming out to vote.
I believe everyone who is eligible to vote should, because
it’s one of the foundational pillars of our country- at the center of what
makes us great. That there’s this ongoing take about “rigged elections” and
“voter fraud”, strikes at the very core of our democracy.
According to a Washington Post report, there have been 31
verified cases of voter fraud out of 1 billion plus ballots cast since 2000 and
this includes state, general, primary and municipal elections. Go figure.
If you do see anything amiss, including attempts to
intimidate voters at the polls, call 1-866-OUR VOTE to report it, don’t let
anyone silence your voice.