Russ Zimmer

@RussZimmer

Democrats in the New Jersey Assembly are considering creating a tax on water to fund a capital program to replace aging water infrastructure, a source of lead in drinking water.

"We're looking at potentially a funding source ... potentially even a surcharge on water that could be reinvested back into the infrastructure," Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto told reporters Tuesday at the Statehouse. "We have to look at that because New Jersey really does have an older housing stock, and it is a problem."

Prieto, flanked by New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney, was speaking with the press about Gov. Chris Christie's reluctance to support a $10 million appropriation for a long-neglected lead protection program.

While the state budget fight is centered on lead paint in homes, the threat that lead ingestion represents to New Jerseyans, especially growing children, has grabbed headlines again after the Newark school district was forced to shut down its water fountains earlier this month.

That story brought home the anxiety felt nationwide from the lead-contamination crisis in the Flint, Michigan, water system.

An Asbury Park Press analysis of lead test results published last week showed that the presence of lead is pervasive in New Jersey tap water, mostly due to the age of the state's housing stock and infrastructure.

"Something has to be addressed. You have water systems in Newark that are over 100 years old," Sweeney said Tuesday. "Our urban areas are really troubled, and the suburban areas aren't keeping up either."

INVESTIGATION: Tainted drinking water not just in Newark schools

The Democratic leaders called the press conference to talk about A-1378, which would restore $10 million to the oft-ignored Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund.

The bill was passed by both chambers of the Legislature earlier this month, by votes of 32-0 in the Senate and 56-17 in the Assembly.

Last year, a Press investigation revealed how state officials — of both political parties — had repeatedly shunned the lead hazard fund, which was designed to protect children from the developmental risks posed by lead exposure.

Deborah Bradley wiped tears from her eyes when she talked Tuesday about the changes she saw in her grandson when he and his mother moved into a Trenton home with lead-based paint inside.

Rushaine, 2, began having seizures, and his physical growth slowed. His communication skills seemed to regress during the seven months they lived in the apartment.

The child's blood-lead level was measured at 27 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, or more than five times the level that prompts increased monitoring.

"Since we've been living in that apartment, he's had these problems," Deborah Bradley said. The boy and his mother now live in Burlington.

MORE: 222,000 NJ kids tainted by lead

An earlier attempt to replenish the lead hazard fund failed to earn Christie's approval, and the governor declined to invest in the fund in his latest budget proposal.

His administration has previously pointed out that the state spends $7 million annually to inspect about 200,000 housing units every year, Christie has also said that he's not against the program itself but that all spending decisions should go through the normal budget process.

“We are not going to do supplemental spending,” he said at a news conference earlier this month. “We are just not going to do it. I have not done it for six years, and that is exactly why I vetoed it, no other reason.

The Associated Press reported that Christie on Tuesday again declined to consider any supplemental bills but said he would be open to including funding for the lead hazard program in the budget, which must be finalized by June 30.

Sweeney said he thinks the situations in Flint and Newark have created too much of a groundswell for Christie to disregard.

"This has been a crisis, and no one's paid attention to it," Sweeney said. "There's too many people paying attention to it (to ignore lead). It's hard now to turn a deaf ear to it."

BY THE NUMBERS: Lead contamination in drinking water

A second bill, S-2022, was introduced by Sweeney after the drinking-water test results from 30 Newark schools were publicly released. That bill would require all schools to test for the presence of lead immediately.

Currently, school buildings are regularly tested only if they have their own water systems. If, however, their water is supplied by a municipal utility, as was the case in Newark, then they are less likely to be included in targeted compliance sampling.

Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748; razimmer@app.com