Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco and other supporters of the proposals wanted to bring the legislation to a vote before the current session ends next week. Now, that apparently won't happen: Assembly speaker Jack Collins (R-Salem) has declined to schedule a vote. The bill providing funding for the Newark arena has been approved by the State Senate's Finance Committee, but without progress in the Assembly, the proposals are effectively stalled.

Collins has offered no specific reason for the delay. However, according to observers, the concerns are twofold. First, the legislation may be too complex for lawmakers to deal with in a short time frame. Second, Collins is said to be pushing for expenditures in his own part of the state --Salem County is in South Jersey.

Barring the unforeseen, DiFrancesco appears to have only one option for keeping the proposals on the fast track--he could call a special session of the legislature within the next several weeks, which would be unpopular. Otherwise, the next opportunity would come in the fall, after the elections. By then, New Jersey will have a new governor, who may want to put his own stamp on the proposals. The next governor will be either Woodbridge mayor Jim McGreevy or former Jersey City mayor Bret Schundler. Both won their primaries handily yesterday; Democrat McGreevy took 96% of the vote, while Republican Schundler topped former US representative Bob Franks by a surprising 57% to 42% margin.