Legislators, ex-governors say N.J. gas-tax hike coming
ATLANTIC CITY - New Jersey motorists are all but certain to start paying more in taxes at the pump by the end of the fiscal year, next June 30.
ATLANTIC CITY - New Jersey motorists are all but certain to start paying more in taxes at the pump by the end of the fiscal year, next June 30.
The only questions appear to be when lawmakers will vote to increase the gasoline tax and which other levies might be reduced to make the move more politically palatable.
"We're in a crisis," Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) said during a panel discussion alongside three other legislative leaders at the State League of Municipalities' annual convention here.
"I think the four of us can get together with a solution," he said. "It won't be a popular one. I've said this before: Roads aren't free."
Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D., Hudson), Senate Minority Leader Thomas H. Kean Jr (R., Union), and Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R., Union) also discussed the international refugee crisis, the state's pension system for public employees, Atlantic City's finances, and marijuana.
Earlier Wednesday, four former governors from both parties said they thought it was inevitable that the state would increase its 14.5-cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline, the second lowest in the nation.
The reason: After the state spends money raised from this week's sale of $627 million in Transportation Trust Fund Authority bonds, New Jersey will not have any money left for road, bridge, and rail maintenance or new projects, according to legislators and testimony in the spring by Gov. Christie's former transportation commissioner.
Lawmakers are working to find a funding solution by the end of the fiscal year.
All revenue currently collected from the gas tax goes toward paying down existing debt. But while Republicans like Bramnick accepted that a gas tax increase may be necessary, he said the state needed to lower other taxes "so people can have some optimistic view of the future of the state."
Prieto said he was open to lifting the threshold at which estates begin to be taxed, currently $675,000, the lowest exemption among the 16 states that impose such a tax. "That is a really good start," Bramnick said. "And that's why this is going to get done."
Sweeney added, "There's no disagreement. Our tax structure is flawed."
Christie, a Republican running for president, has said he would be open to raising the gas tax if lawmakers presented a plan that resulted in "tax fairness" for New Jerseyans. Christie has not defined what that means.
Republican John Bennett, a former acting governor, said earlier Wednesday that he was skeptical that Christie would approve a tax increase right now.
"The governor as a presidential candidate is not going to sign the tax, period," Bennett said, though he added that could change if Christie were to end his campaign.
Lawmakers also discussed how to address some of the state's underfunded pension plans. Sweeney warned that the teachers' and state workers' plans could run out of money if lawmakers do not act in the next two years. "We really are out of time," Sweeney said.
Public pension plans funded by municipalities are in much better shape.
Yet no consensus has emerged over how to solve the problem. Democrats have emphasized the importance of fulfilling an obligation to fund the plans at levels set by a 2011 law. Public-sector unions would be willing to negotiate changes to the plans if Christie were to meet that obligation, Democrats say.
Christie has said the state cannot afford to make the bigger payments.
Legislative leaders also briefly discussed the possibility of marijuana legalization, which the Senate Judiciary Committee considered Monday. There's "nothing wrong with having healthy dialogue on this," Sweeney said. The Republicans said they were opposed to the idea.
Asked about the international refugee crisis, Sweeney said that if there are flaws in the federal government's vetting process, they should be fixed. But the country shouldn't close its borders, he said.
Bramnick called for a cautious approach. "This world is changing every day. So anybody who has an absolute answer to this question, I think, is rushing to judgment," he said.
Christie initially said the United States might need to accept some Syrian refugees but more recently has said it would be dangerous to take any.
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