Infrastructure ‘Crisis’ May Compel New Jersey to Finally Raise Gas Tax

"Amid mounting alarm over how to pay for repairs to New Jersey’s roads and bridges, state lawmakers are lining up behind a potential solution once considered politically unthinkable: raising the state’s famously low gas tax.

A new proposal from leading Democrats is forcing a showdown with Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who has resisted calls to increase prices at the pump even as the state’s transportation trust fund is set to run out of money at the end of the month. Under the proposal, the tax could rise by about 23 cents a gallon, bringing it closer to what neighboring states collect.

The fate of New Jersey’s dwindling transportation funding has been entangled in recent years with Mr. Christie’s political ambitions. Even as the state’s bridges and roads are falling apart and New Jersey Transit is struggling with a series of financial problems, he has avoided tackling the issue."

Emma G. Fitzsimmons reports for the New York Times June 22, 2016.