OCEAN CITY — First Legislative District GOP Assembly nominees Mike Donohue and John McCann – responding to Gov. Jon Corzine’s admission before the editorial board of The Record of Hackensack that he will consider raising the gas tax – on Oct. 13 declared, in a release, that they would not support a gas tax increase.
“Not too long ago, Jon Corzine was saying an increase in the gas tax would be a ‘last resort,’” said Donohue. “It didn’t take him long to change his mind and book a ticket to that resort.”
“New Jersey residents are already being crushed by the heaviest tax burden in the nation,” added McCann. “Just as the price of gas is finally coming down, the Democrats talk about pushing the cost higher.”
“First he wanted to raise tolls 800 percent,” recalled Donohue. “Now Corzine wants to raise the price of gas. Doesn’t he realize how badly people are hurting? Aren’t the Democrats aware that this could be the breaking point for many families who are struggling every day to make ends meet?
“And especially for those of us who live in South Jersey, where tourism is our lifeblood – well, a gas tax increase is just a killer,” said McCann.
“We already know Corzine has Assemblyman John Wisniewski on his side,” McCann continued. “Wisniewski is a Democrat who is the chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee and has never stopped pushing for an increase in the gas tax, even when the price at the pump was $4 a gallon.”
Wisniewski wants to more than double the state gas tax. His plan would raise it by 18 cents a gallon over three years, and then allow the tax to rise automatically to keep pace with inflation every year thereafter.
Donohue and McCann, by contrast, said no increase in the gas tax should be imposed without the prior approval of the voters.
They noted Republicans have proposed a “no tax/no toll” solution to the transportation funding problem – a proposed constitutional dedication of $500 million in existing annual motor vehicle fees to the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) that would provide $1.9 billion in aid annually for state transportation projects in each of the ensuing five years. The plan includes a strong pay-as-you-go component. The loss of fee revenue from the budget would be offset by $500 million in permanent savings achieved by budget cuts and reforms.
