Water companies and businesses are opposing a proposed constitutional amendment to tax water in New Jersey.
They say the tax would make them less competitive.
A Senate committee today debated the measure.
The tax, expected to average about $32 annually, would dedicate $150 million annually to farmland and open space preservation in the nation’s most densely populated state.
Environmentalists say the state needs stable, long-term funding for land preservation.
Voters would decide in November if it’s passed by three-fifths of both legislative houses.
The Senate Environment Committee has delayed action on the bill to consider how to include money in it for historic preservation.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)