State Senators Leonard Lance, Andrew Ciesla and Henry McNamra

RANSPORTATION TRUST FUND PLAN NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
Emphasis On Borrowing Will Leave Our Children Paying The Bill

Senator Leonard Lance, (R-23) Senator Andrew Ciesla, (R-10), and Senator Henry McNamara, (R-40), issued the following statement regarding Governor Jon Corzine’s announcement of a Transportation Trust Fund reauthorization plan.
Senator Leonard Lance, (R-23) Senator Andrew Ciesla, (R-10), and Senator Henry McNamara, (R-40), issued the following statement regarding Governor Jon Corzine’s announcement of a Transportation Trust Fund reauthorization plan.

Senator Lance explained, “The cornerstone of the Governor’s plan is to restructure $1.8 billion in existing debt by extending the bond maturity from twenty to thirty years. This directly contradicts the recommendations of a Blue Ribbon Commission, which states, ‘the impending insolvency of the TTF is directly linked to decisions made over the past ten years to increase reliance on bonding, to extend the term of the bonds from ten to twenty years and to raise spending caps without additional revenue.’ The new plan only expands upon the bad decisions of the past and will in the end make the existing problems more severe in the future, only delaying the inevitable.�

Senator Ciesla expanded on this theme, “Senator Lance is exactly right. Any time the state borrows, the voters, who will end up paying the bill should be asked for their approval. In addition, I am deeply disturbed by the Administration’s refusal to dedicate constitutionally one hundred percent of the motors fuels and petroleum gross receipts taxes to the TTF. This one action would raise an additional $220 million for the TTF without raising taxes.�

Senator McNamara added, “By adding debt and not implementing structural reforms to the TTF we are once again forestalling the inevitable hard choices that need to be made to make the TTF solvent. This is just a short term fix. We will be having this conversation again in five years and it will be even harder to come up with a solution.

Senator Lance concluded, “The plan proposed by the governor should be seriously scrutinized to ensure that it does not violate the provisions of the New Jersey Supreme Court decision regarding bonding for operating expenses.�