How will Democrats respond?
Republican Assemblyman Alex Sauickie of Ocean County is quarterbacking two legislative overtures inspired by the plight of the Henry family farm in Cranbury, New Jersey, which is on the verge of being seized through eminent domain in order to satisfy the municipality’s eminent domain obligations.
“Governor Phil Murphy and the Democrat-controlled Legislature claim to want to preserve 500,000 acres of farmland and eliminate food insecurity. Yet in Cranbury, you have an all-Democrat local government attempting to take food-producing farmland from veterans to meet arbitrary housing mandates and the governor as well as the Democrats in the Legislature have been silent. It’s hypocritical and unacceptable,” added
A5884 would bar the use of eminent domain to seize farmland regardless of the purposes.
AR197 is a condemnation of the effort to take the farm, owned by the Henry family since 1850, and asks the local governing body to pursue an alternative plan.
There may also be a federal solution. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is investigating whether the farm’s status entitles it to enhanced federal protection.
