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ABERDEEN, N.J. (PIX11) – Gov. Phil Murphy signed an update to the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), which funds infrastructure, and new legislation goes into effect.
“It’s very important that New Jersey has the best infrastructure in the nation,” Murphy said. “We are the most densely populated state in America, we are on the Northeast Corridor, and 20% of the nation’s GDP is on the Northeast Corridor. It’s a goal I’m proud of.”
At the Safety Training Center in Aberdeen, the North American Workers International Union supports the bill, and the governor’s office says it will create thousands of new jobs.
But the legislation would be particularly costly, raising the gas tax by nearly 2 cents each year for the next five years.
“It’s clear that no increase is the desired outcome,” Murphy said. “But we’re talking about 1.9 cents a year over five years. What you get in return is billions of dollars of investment in the state’s infrastructure, including everything from roads, bridges, railroads and tunnels. ”
Transportation has always been a bipartisan issue, but for some the gas tax is a tough pill to swallow.
“We are now dealing with inflation rates that we haven’t dealt with in decades,” said Rep. Christian Barranco (R-New Jersey, 25th District). “If our roads and bridges are in bad shape, we’re all in bad shape. I said from day one we need a transportation trust fund. We need to fund it in a way that’s fair to everyone. But what we did was unfair.”
The law also establishes a $250 registration fee for electric vehicles.
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