Senate Minority Whip Thomas H. Kean (R-Essex/Morris/Somerset/Union) reacted to court papers filed by Governor Corzine today arguing that his plan to sell off the State’s toll roads should remain secret one day after telling reporters the plan could be approved during the upcoming “lame duck” legislative session.
“The Governor would like us to believe that his reckless scheme to sell the State’s toll roads is not complete enough for the Legislature and the public to see any part of it today, but by some miracle will instead be ready for legislative action immediately following the November 6th election,” said Kean. “This calculated political ploy speaks volumes about the cynical and secretive nature of the Trenton Democrats, who are desperately attempting to stonewall the public about the details of the massive toll hikes that they are furtively planning to impose on New Jersey drivers.”
“The Corzine Administration has gone to court to fight the release of an $887, 000 taxpayer-funded study about the impact of their toll hikes and its impact on local traffic patterns, claiming that the studies are incomplete. Yet the administration’s work seems to be complete enough to ram this proposal through the ‘lame duck’ session with the least amount of legislative oversight possible.”
Friday is the deadline set by a Superior Court judge for the administration to respond to a lawsuit by Republican legislators to release the Department of Treasury report prepared under a contract with consultant Steer, Davies and Gleave. The report was to study the impact of a proposed sale or lease of New Jersey’s toll roads and contains data about possible toll hikes and the impact on traffic flow onto local roads. Attempts to obtain the data from this report through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request were denied by the Corzine administration.
“Every legislator regardless of party has an obligation to their constituents to demand a deliberate, thorough and transparent review of the Governor’s road sale and toll hike scheme,” said Kean. “This transparent review can start with the immediate release of the secret report that details the impact of their planned toll hikes and the congestion that it will bring to our local roads.”
“The Trenton Democrat plan to turn the upcoming ‘lame duck’ session into a ‘lap-dog’ session where they intend to impose massive new toll hikes should be publicly rejected by the legislators who voted in June to authorize the Governor to sell our toll roads.”
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February 4, 2008
