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TRENTON (AP) ― Scott Simpkins broke a vertebrae in a biking accident in Colorado in late August 2000, leaving him paralyzed.

His nephew was born two weeks later. A niece has since arrived, too.

"To them Uncle Scott always sits in a chair," the wheelchair-bound Williamstown resident said. "They don't know the real me, and that just breaks my heart."

The 36-year-old has hope they might see him walk again someday. That hope rests with New Jersey voters, who on Nov. 6 will decide whether to approve borrowing $450 million over 10 years to pay for stem cell research in the Garden State.

"We're at the doorstep of new discovery," Simpkins said of the research many believe will bring cures for ailments such as spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, sickle cell anemia and multiple sclerosis.

If approved by voters, the borrowing would make New Jersey second only to California in public money devoted to stem cell research.

California has approved spending $3 billion.

"This initiative represents a landmark economic investment that will create new jobs and spur new business ventures while bringing the potential of revolutionary lifesaving treatments," said Democratic New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

But abortion foes, who compare stem cell research on embryos to abortion, have filed a lawsuit trying to get the question removed from the November ballot, alleging the research could lead to human cloning and increase New Jersey's property taxes, which are the highest in the country.

"This is a stealth effort to force taxpayers to fund objectionable research that even private investors and drug companies are unwilling to invest in," said Marie Tasy, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, which is among those that filed the lawsuit.

A Superior Court judge rejected their request to remove the question from the ballot, but an appeals court panel is scheduled Monday to consider whether to overturn that decision.

New Jersey's plan would fund work on adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. President Bush has restricted federal funding for embryonic stem cell work, and New Jersey hopes to fill that void.

"New Jersey will now be a part of the front line in the search for cures to some of our most obstinate afflictions," said Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex.

Several states are competing in stem cell research.

Besides California, Connecticut has a $100 million program, Illinois spent $10 million and Maryland awarded $15 million in grants.

New Jersey awarded $10 million for research grants earlier this year with money from the state budget and is spending $270 million to build stem cell research institutes, including a New Brunswick facility that will be named after actor Christopher Reeve, a New Jersey native who led a push for stem cell research after becoming paralyzed in a horse-riding accident.

"Every dollar we invest in stem-cell research holds the promise of saving lives and achieving significant breakthroughs in human health," said Assemblyman Neil Cohen, D-Union. "We have a humanitarian responsibility to do everything possible to encourage the world's best and brightest minds to conduct stem cell research here in New Jersey."

A legislative fiscal analysis estimates the borrowing, if approved by voters, would increase state debt by as much as $37 million per year.

A state report released late last year found New Jersey was the nation's fourth-most indebted state, behind Massachusetts, Hawaii and Connecticut.

But a recent Quinnipiac University poll found 49 percent of New Jersey voters support the measure, with 39 percent opposed. Those hoping for a cure are hopeful that support holds.

"I have learned to go on with life while keeping faith and hope that one day we will find a cure," said Villanova University senior Carl Riccio, a Warren resident paralyzed since a 2003 high school wrestling accident. "The answer to a cure for me and so many is stem cell research."

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)