Gas Bill Under Scrutiny

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By John Burton
A bill introduced in the state Senate this week to shore up the nearly broke state Transportation Trust Fund is adding fuel to the fiery debate over raising the gas tax.
A bipartisan bill offered on Monday by Senators Paul A. Sarlo (D-36), representing portions of Bergen and Passaic counties, and Steven V. Oroho (R-24), whose district includes parts of Warren, Morris and Sussex counties, introduced a bill that includes a 23-cent increase in the state gas tax as a way of providing much-needed revenue to the fund. The bill also offers some tax cuts, even eliminating the estate tax, to offset the increase.
An identical bill, offered by Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-32), representing Hudson County, has been introduced in the Assembly.
The Senate’s Budget and Appropriations Committee is slated to take up the bill on Thursday, June 23.
But state Senator Jennifer Beck (R-11), who represents Monmouth County, along with other legislators and a grassroots organization, are voicing strong opposition, believing it will negatively impact the state’s economy and the true tax increase would be 53 cents per gallon.
The current gas tax is 14.5 cents per gallon, with New Jersey the second lowest in the country.
“I don’t care who you are in the state of New Jersey, whether you own a small business, whether you’re a commuter who drives up the parkway or turnpike every day,” Beck said this week, “this will be a devastating blow to the New Jersey economy.”
“This is a plan that delivers tax fairness,” declared Oroho in a released statement, adding his bill would provide tax relief for seniors and middle class families.
The legislation provides a tax break on retirement income, eliminates income taxes on income up to $100,000 for those filing jointly, and other tax benefits for much of the state’s population.
The bill would also do away with the estate tax, a provision long advocated by Republicans.
The Transportation Trust Fund, used for infrastructure repairs and upgrades and mass transit improvements, is scheduled to run out of money by the end of the month.
In a press statement released earlier this month, Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-3) warned that with the trust fund poised to become insolvent by July 1, it placed a potentially hazardous strain on state finances as officials looked to deal with deteriorating roadways and bridges.
The Society of American Civil Engineers has graded the state’s roadways and transportation infrastructure a “D-”out, based on an A to F system. “In general, the condition of the transportation infrastructure is poor,” with many of the state’s bridges either functionally or structurally deficient, acknowledged Greg Landry, vice chairman for the society, who helped draft the society’s report card on the state’s condition.
Roadways in that condition wind up costing families approximately $2,000 dollars in auto repairs and higher insurance rates according their analysis, said Landry.
Given that, Landry said, “We’re very much in favor of the bi-partisan proposal that’s been put out there to raise the gas tax and get things back on track.”
Beck over the winter offered her own alternative to keep the trust fund solvent. Her plan calls for a more pay-as-you go approach with some limited long-term borrowing and “some belt tightening,” and “some policy changes,” allowing to pay for repairs and new projects out of general appropriations.
Beck’s position is supported by the state chapter of the national Americans for Prosperity. The politically conservative group, which advocates for smaller government and lower taxes, has been working with Beck in holding rallies in opposition to the gas tax hike. This week they held rallies in Eatontown on Monday and Bridgewater on Wednesday.
“We actually agree the roads are in terrible condition,” acknowledged Erica Jedynak, who heads up the group’s New Jersey chapter. But Americans for Prosperity believes, like Beck, the remedy doesn’t require the increase. The group advocates such things as pay as you go, and merging the various state government transportation entities and allowing them to share equipment as cost saving measures (as opposed to each agency having its own). “That’s literally tens of millions of dollars,” in savings there, said Jedynak.
The group maintains that at the current average gas price per gallon of $2.12 this proposal combined with the federal gas tax brings the actual increase to 53.7 cents per gallon, from the current combined rate of 32.9 cents per gallon.
Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey Chapter of the environmental organization Sierra Club, is supporting the tax increase to improve mass transit as well as fixing roadways. He called Beck’s plan and Americans for Prosperity’s support “a desperate attempt by Big Oil to keep us addicted to fossil fuels and move away from public transit,” Tittel said in a released statement.
Beck this week vowed “on behalf of the citizen of this state I will continue to fight this horrendous public policy.”
Gov. Chris Christie has in the past said he would oppose any gas tax increase.