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The bill was not killed however, leaving speculation that it could arise in a different form, possibly after Republican Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco leaves office at the beginning of next year.
"I am deeply disappointed that the Assembly failed to act today," DiFrancesco said in prepared remarks. "What started as an effort to address a very real and significant problem has apparently fallen victim to election year politics and legislative parochialism," he said.
In June, the Senate passed a stadium proposal for a state-of-the-art Newark arena to house the Nets basketball and Devils hockey teams, and the creation of a special taxing district to partly finance the deal. Another taxing district was also proposed for the Meadowlands, where the teams currently play, in order to create economic activity from an `entertainment village? that would fill the void left after the teams' move.
But before consideration in the Assembly, Republican Speaker of the Assembly Jack Collins bargained for amendments that would have benefited his Southern New Jersey constituents, including a new $20m (?22.37) sports complex at Rowan University.
The bill soon expanded to include a host of other projects across other districts, falling victim on Thursday to anti-tax sentiment across the state.
Thursday's last minute cancellation was announced an hour after the scheduled hearing time, during which time Republican members of the Appropriations Committee met behind closed doors to try to rally support for the bill.
The Assembly room included a packed array of spectators and speakers, some of whom were prepared to testify against the bill, including Republican gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler, who has called for a state-wide referendum on the arena.
Schundler held an impromptu news conference following the cancellation announcement.
"The problem is that when you have a public entity issuing the bonds you have people who are ultimately on the hook when you have taxpayers who might have to go into their own pockets to pay off those bonds if the deal doesn't work," he said.
James Poole, the state's director of debt management, has stated in the past that the $190m (?212.53) in bonds that would be issued to partly finance the project, would be revenue bonds paid solely by revenues from the special taxing district, not from state funds.
Newark Assemblyman William Payne, a Democratic member of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, said the fact that the bill was not killed was a hopeful sign that it could be passed in time for a new arena to be built in Newark by 2004, the teams' deadline.
"There's still some room for some elasticity in there," he said. "If it is passed next spring, we would still have a timetable to be able to open it up," he said.
Reuters