New Jersey Assembly Transportation Committee Chair John Wisniewski, a proponent of raising the state’s gas tax, stated earlier this year that “until the governor shows a willingness to tackle the [transportation funding] problem it would be quixotic for Democrats to propose a tax that would face not only the governor’s veto, but his wrath as well.”
It’s a rational argument — why try when failure is certain? But the threat of the governor’s veto hasn’t stopped New Jersey Democrats from trying to advance other tax increases.
Governor Chris Christie has been very vocal about his determination to veto any tax increase that is sent to him, so it came as no surprise when he vetoed a tax increase on millionaires before signing the $32.5 billion state budget this week. What’s surprising is that legislators sent them to the governor anyway. In fact, Democrats in the legislature have tried on several occasions to pass a “millionaires tax” despite Christie’s inevitable veto.
So why have legislators stayed away from seeking a much-needed gas tax increase? It’s not as if legislators don’t realize the state has a transportation funding crisis.
An op-ed written by Assemblyman Gary Schaer, appearing in The Record on Wednesday, criticized the many shortcomings of the budget, including the lack of any plan to address the Transportation Trust Fund, and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto recently called for an “honest discussion” about a gas tax increase. Senator Ray Lesniak introduced a bill in March that would increase the state’s gas tax — which hasn’t been increased since 1988 and is the second lowest in the country — by 15 cents over three years. Lesniak’s bill has yet to be posted in committee, not even if only for discussion purposes.
With 66 percent of the Garden State’s roads in poor or mediocre condition and one in ten bridges rated as structurally deficient, this is a problem the legislature and the governor can no longer afford to ignore.
It’s about grandstanding
Sending a doomed “millionaire’s tax” bill to the Governor sets up a “middle-class champion vs. tool of the wealthy” narrative.
A gas tax, on the other hand, can be spun as an attack on the poor and middle class.
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