Mediaboss Marketing

Republican Governor Chris Christie, whos opposed raising New Jerseys gasoline tax even as the roadwork fund runs dry, put a Democrat in charge of state transportation spending and says hes open to all options for replenishing the pool.

Thats emboldening proponents of raising the tax, the second-lowest in the U.S., as fuel prices sink to a 21-month low. Christie pledged in 2011 to use more cash and less debt for highway and bridge repairs. Instead, as state revenue came up short of forecasts, he put no money into the transportation fund for three years and borrowed $1 billion more than promised to keep it alive.

New Jersey would gain $50 million from each cent of a tax increase, according to Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto. The Secaucus Democrat, with Assemblyman John Wisniewski, chairman of the transportation committee, began hearings last month on possible solutions. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 14.

There is a high degree of urgency attached to resolving this in the next few months, said Martin Robins, a professor emeritus at the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Good policy would have been to recognize there was a revenue deficiency in the Transportation Trust Fund and it needed to be addressed in 2010.

The main roadwork fund for the traffic-vexed state will be unable to borrow further by June 30, a year earlier than projected in 2011. All the money it gets from taxes and tolls goes to pay off bonds, leaving nothing to repair frayed infrastructure. The revenue shortfalls have also led Christie to cut pension payments, delay property tax rebates and pledge national tobacco-settlement proceeds to investors in exchange for almost $92 million.

An increase in the 10.5-cent-per-gallon gas tax could sting Wisniewski and Sweeney if they seek to run for governor in 2016, as well as Christie, should he try for the presidency. Christie said Oct. 1 in a CNN interview that hes still considering whether to run for the White House and will make his announcement after the first of the year.

The easy answer is you call it anything other than a tax, toll -- whatever other word you can find, said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University history and public affairs professor.

Christie on Sept. 18 appointed Democrat Jamie Fox as transportation commissioner, a job he held in Governor Jim McGreeveys administration.

Asked whether options could include raising the gas tax, the governor refused to elaborate.

Is there something about Everythings on the table thats confusing to you? the governor said. Everything is on the table.

Excerpt from:
Christie Faces Need for Tax With N.J. Roads Fund Empty