Tiver, Torrissi lament Democrat’s gas tax increase

TRENTON– Trenton lawmakers voted to raise the gas tax by nearly 10 cents over the next five years in a mostly partisan vote today. 

A body of mostly Democrats voted to raise the tax without providing accounting on why the increase was necessary. The gas tax is used to fund roads and bridges in New Jersey through the Transportation Trust Fund, but about 38 percent of it gets diverted to pay for NJ Transit. 

Senator Latham Tiver and Assemblyman Michael Torrissi (R-8), who sponsor an alternative plan to fund the Transportation Trust Fund, expressed their disappointment that Democrats ignored proposals that would’ve kept the fund solvent while not raising the gas tax. 

“Increasing the gas tax is an affront to New Jersey residents, who have been loud about their opposition to being taxed more in the highest-taxed state in the nation,” Tiver said. 

“My plan, with Assemblyman Torrissi and Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco, is union and industry approved, aims to fix the beleaguered NJ Transit, charges EV drivers their fair share, and, best of all, doesn’t raise the gas tax,” he continued. 

“I own a trucking company that employs hundreds of people. My colleague is a leader of Operating Engineers 825, which fixes roads and bridges. If there are two lawmakers that have expertise in infrastructure, it’s us. Yet, Democrats in Trenton refused to incorporate any portion of our plan. Instead they took the easy way out- just raise taxes and ask questions later,” Torrissi said.

The first part of the alternative plan would call for an independent audit of NJ Transit that looks at management practices and ridership levels in a post-COVID era. It would also provide an initial two-year cash infusion to NJ Transit from the state’s surplus account, while slowly weaning it off the Transportation Trust Fund. 

The second part would reauthorize the Transportation Trust Fund for 8 years while keeping the gas tax flat. It would ultimately increase funding for roads and bridges by lessening the amount of money diverted to NJ Transit from $750 million to $500 million in years 3 through 8. 

The final part would make sure EV drivers pay their fair share by charging a yearly registration fee on EV drivers and repealing the sales tax holiday on EV purchases.