Senator Andrew Ciesla (R-10), a member and former chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, issued the following statement today regarding published comments made by Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski:
“In a press release issued yesterday, Assemblyman Wisniewski charged that Republicans were not, ‘taking part in an honest discussion about funding our very real and very serious transportation needs.’ That simply is not true.
“I have repeatedly called for the Legislature to convene a special session to debate transportation funding. My calls, and those from my Republican colleagues, have met deaf ears by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. The truth is that New Jersey Democrats do not want an ‘honest’ debate on tolls and transportation funding. They want to pass massive toll hikes with minimal opportunity for public input.
“The Democrats want to nearly triple tolls to provide a source of revenue for non-highway transportation projects. As a prime-sponsor of the legislation that consolidated the state’s toll roads under the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, I know that the bill specifically and clearly states that toll revenues cannot be used for non-highway projects as the Democrats are trying to do.
“Rather than sit down with Republicans, as we have repeatedly requested, to discuss long-term and legal solutions to funding a variety of transportation projects, Democrats continue to try to circumvent the law and force through massive toll increases.
“Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean has accepted a newspaper’s invitation to debate the governor on this measure. He awaits a reply.
“In the meantime, I urge Assemblyman Wisniewski to convene the Assembly Transportation Committee, which he chairs, to hold an ‘honest discussion’ on the legal ways to fund vital transportation projects, including the new trans-Hudson rail tunnel. If he holds such a hearing, we will be there.”
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June 23, 2008
