Some Republicans are planning to the one penny per gallon increase in New Jersey’s tax on gasoline coming on October 1 as an issue in the fall legislative elections.
Democrats in Gloucester County are reminding voters the the gas was approved in 2016 by Gov. Chris Christie, because he exhausted the state’s Transportation Trust Fund a year early, which necessitated an eight-year, $16 billion infrastructure improvement plan.
The law financing the road building authority–initially created by Republican Governor Tom Kean during the 1980s–requires automatic annual adjustments to the tax to generate about $2 billion annually based on revenues.
The tax dropped one penny last year and it also fell by 8.3 cents in October 2021, when Gov. Phil Murphy was seeking re-election.
“Because actual consumption in Fiscal Year 2023 was slightly below our projections made last August, primarily due to lower diesel use, and because consumption in the current fiscal year is projected to be just above last fiscal year’s levels, our analysis of the formula dictates a 0.9 cent increase this coming October,” said State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio. “As mandated by the 2016 law, this dedicated funding stream continues to provide billions of dollars across the state to support crucial transportation infrastructure needs.”
Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Washington Township) abstained when the law was enacted but the Democratic State Senate candidate may be pleased that it was written to cause the gas tax to go up for down on October 1, just before the election.
Moriarty is in a competitive race against a Republican ally of Christie, former Washington Township Councilman Chris Del Borrello who defeated Gloucester County Commissioner Nick DeSilvio after an acrimonious Republican primary battle.
Del Borrello was criticized for pimping out strippers as a shady business owner by DeSilvio, who is a Trump Republican allied with Gloucester County Republicans and Sen. Ed Durr, who stunned the political establishment by defeating Senate President Steve Sweeney in 2021.
New Jersey’s 4th is one of the most competitive of the 40 state legislative districts, and state Sen. Fred Madden is retiring from the seat he’s held since 2004.
The district includes the Camden County municipalities of Chesilhurst, Gloucester Township, Waterford, and Winslow Township; the Gloucester County municipalities of Franklin Township, Monroe Township, Newfield Borough, and Washington Township; and the Atlantic County municipalities of Buena and Buena Vista.
Christie is challenging Trump for the GOP nomination while his liberal legislative allies are scheming to blame Democrats for the tax increase even though lawmakers like Moriarty refused to support it.
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