The State of New Jersey is set to join other states that have enacted some form of local DREAM act within its state legislature. The bill has passed the state senate and is up for a vote in the assembly.

Enthusiasm was running high for the NJ measure, but developments this week have put a big question mark on the issue's prospects. This week, Republican Governor Chris Christie dropped a bombshell on the bill's supporters, saying that he will not sign the bill in its current form.

"They're overreaching and making it unsignable and making the benefits richer than the federal program, the federal Dream Act, that's simply not acceptable for me," Christie said on a call-in radio show. He said he didn't want the legislation to create New Jersey as a "magnet state."

"They have time to change that between now and Jan 14. If they do, I will, if they don't, I won't."

The reaction was swift from the Democratic side.

"The governor never misses an opportunity to disappoint," said Senate President Steve Sweeney in a press release. "When he was running for governor, he supported it and now that he's running for president, he's against it."

This comes on the heels of recent reports citing Christie's popularity among Latino voters. The New Jersey DREAM Act Coalition immediately repudiated Christie's remarks as "backpedaling" after he took 51 percent of the Latino vote in his reelection.

"The governor's comments are erroneous and suspect, given that the federal Dream Act is about a path to citizenship for college-eligible youth and service men and women in the armed forces, while the NJ Tuition Equity Bill, (also known as the NJ DREAM Act), is about ensuring that all taxpaying NJ residents are charged in-state tuition and have access to state aid," the group posted on its Facebook page.