Proposed NJ Bill Includes 23-Cent Gas Tax Hike
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- State lawmakers have unveiled plans to raise $20 billion over the next decade to fix the expiring transportation trust fund.
Proposals include a fuel tax hike that could raise prices at the gas pump by 23 cents a gallon, WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini reported. To garner bipartisan support, the bills also include provisions like phasing out the estate tax, which has sparked criticism from some activist groups.
"To ask everyone to pay more and give a massive tax break to 4,000 families in New Jersey - the wealthiest families in New Jersey - is unfair and doesn't make sense," Analilia Mejia, of the group New Jersey Working Families.
Other trade offs include increasing a tax credit for the working poor and requiring fewer retirees to pay income taxes.
The legislation is the latest in a long-running conversation between Republican Gov. Chris Christie and the Democrat-led Legislature over how to pay for the state's $1.6 billion transportation trust fund, which is on track to go broke by summer.
Hammer said the fund has enough cash — about $83 million — to carry into early August, roughly a month beyond the July 1 deadline when legal authority to borrow money runs out.
Christie's $34.8 billion 2017 budget calls for a $1.6 billion trust fund. His administration said it is confident a deal between lawmakers and Christie will be reached, although they're currently in a stalemate.
The disagreement centers on whether to raise the state's 14.5-cent gas tax, which is the second lowest in the country. Democrats said it's necessary to raise the tax to shore up the fund and invest in infrastructure, but Christie argues that residents pay enough to the state already and has called for "tax fairness," or lowering other taxes if the gas tax is hiked.
AAA Mid-Atlantic says the average price of a gallon of regular gas in the state on Friday was $2.15, the same price it has been for the past two weeks. That's also much lower than the price from a year ago, when motorists were paying $2.56.
Analysts say its's not clear if fuel prices in New Jersey will remain stable, noting gasoline demand is expected to keep rising.
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