New Jersey Transportation Funding Debate Rages
Less than a week after Gov. Christie termed the state’s Transportation Trust Fund “obsolete,” New Jersey legislative leaders are pushing a 10-year, $23 billion infrastructure plan that’s largely funded by a 26 cents-per-gallon tax hike on diesel and 23 cents-per-gallon hike on gas.
If the plan becomes law, the increase would vault the Garden State from among the nation’s lowest taxes on diesel (17.5 cents) and gas (14.5 cents) to among its highest.
Senate President Steve Sweeney and other Democratic lawmakers have warned that the $1.6 billion fund is nearing insolvency, an idea that Republican Christie called “crap” before vowing not to sign a fuel tax hike “unless it represents fairness for the people of New Jersey.”
The fund’s borrowing authority expires on July 1.
"The Legislature says they're for better roads and bridges and for more mass transit funding," Christie said at a press conference in Trenton. "Maybe they should have to choose inside the general fund about how to do that rather than just asking the people of the state for more money every time they want to do something. … There's places to cut."
To increase the fund’s level from $1.6 billion to $2 billion per year, New Jersey’s Senate would raise the diesel tax from 17.5 cents to 43.5 cents-per-gallon and the gas tax from 14.5 cents to 37.5 cents-per-gallon.
“They’re going to jam it through this session,” said Gail Toth, executive director of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association. “Rumor has it that both parties want this to go away this year because they don’t want it to interfere with next year’s gubernatorial race. Everyone wants their hands clean real quick. And the reality is, if you want anything done this year, you’ve gotta get it done by June 30. The trust fund supposedly goes bust July 1. It’s not so much going bust, but all the money coming in will go to debt [service] so you can’t do anything else. And in order to get federal matching dollars, you’ve gotta have money.”
“Our trust fund has been on the verge of collapse for over a decade. Once to get the public to support a fuel tax increase, they did do a constitutional amendment but there was apparently still a … loophole in there. We hear that’s going to be an additional part of this plan. Nobody wants to go down the road again thinking that somebody could take the money out. You want to know where your money is going to go,” said Toth.
The Senate plan would put an extra $400 million annually in the trust fund, half of which would go to local roads.
