N.J. political group pushing for $750M higher ed bond gets $900K in donations

State Senate President Steve Sweeney and Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean meet with President Kathleen Waldron of William Paterson University and John Galandak of the Commerce and Industry Association for a brief tour of Hunziker Wing, home to the university’s nursing programs. The tour promotes a $750 million bond proposal that will be up for a vote on Election Day. Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger

The newly formed political committee created to persuade New Jersey voters to approve the higher education bond question on the Nov. 6 ballot has already raised nearly $900,000 in donations from labor, education and industry groups banking on the referendum passing.

Building our Future, a bipartisan group formed to push for passage of the ballot question, listed PSE&G, William Paterson University and the New Jersey State Electrical Workers as some of its first big donors, according to the committee’s initial filing with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.

The group has a few weeks left to use the cash to convince voters to pass a higher education ballot question that would allow the state to borrow $750 million to fund construction projects at New Jersey’s public and private colleges.

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