The New Jersey State Assembly will “spend the coming months hosting hearings on the problems and concerns surrounding our bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) and what it will take to meet our transportation needs,” Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto announced last week via an op-ed in The Record.  But this is not going to be a “feel-good process done for appearances sakes,” said Speaker Prieto. “Nothing about our current state of transportation affairs should make anyone feel good.”

The problems surrounding the bankrupt TTF should be obvious enough to state legislators. Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Senator Paul Sarlo recently announced a tour of the state’s crumbling transportation infrastructure that aims to draw Governor Christie’s attention to the need to resolve the funding crisis—as though the governor might somehow be unaware of that need. The real problem is that the political will required to address the issue is conspicuously lacking, even while the solutions for funding transportation infrastructure seem to be staring the legislature—and the governor—square in the face.

For starters, New Jersey’s 14.5 cent gas tax is the second lowest in the country and has not been raised since 1988. Senator Raymond Lesniak introduced a bill several months ago calling for a 15 cent increase over three years, which translates to roughly $750 million in increased revenue per year, but it is unclear if elected officials have the courage to bring the bill to a vote.

Then there’s the sales tax.  New Jersey Policy Perspective released a report in April suggesting that the 7 percent state sales tax be extended to gasoline. At an average of $3.50 per gallon, that would translate to a 24.5 cent increase, generating just over $1 billion in additional revenue.

Republican Senators Thomas Kean, Jr., whose father signed the TTF into law, and Joseph Pennacchio introduced a Senate Concurrent Resolution this July to constitutionally dedicate $400 million per year in motor vehicle fees to the TTF. This doesn’t create a new revenue stream, but rather redirects existing revenue to the TTF. This is a good step, but fails to go far enough to fully address New Jersey’s transportation funding challenges.

However, none of these solutions alone is the answer. Debt service payments are close to par with transportation project costs: in FY2015, $1.26 billion will be spent on state transportation projects while $1.19 billion will be spent on TTF debt service. A combination of strategies and a commitment to reducing debt dependency is the only surefire way to put an end to the TTF’s downward spiral. Though transportation funding issues date back to as early as the Florio administration, the scope of the crisis became abundantly clear during Governor Christie’s FY2015 budget address when it was confirmed that the governor had again failed to meet his promise to reduce reliance on debt for funding transportation. This continued financial irresponsibility has resulted in the five-year funding plan running dry a full year early.

This is what happens when you kick the can down the road for so many years.  Failure to address the transportation funding problem coupled with continued issuance of new debt has left New Jersey residents paying into a system that doesn’t improve and actually causes more damage to their vehicles than a gas tax increase would cost to their wallets. It is time these same residents demand New Jersey’s elected officials make the difficult choices that will improve the state’s infrastructure, save motorists money and improve quality of life.