Assemblyman Guy Gregg

GREGG: CORZINE TTF PLAN PROVES NOBODY CAN TOP NEW JERSEY WHEN IT COMES TO FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITYMarch 16, 2006
Assemblyman Guy Gregg/973-584-5422
Assembly Republican Office/609-292-5339

GREGG: CORZINE TTF PLAN PROVES NOBODY CAN TOP NEW JERSEY WHEN IT COMES TO FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY

Assemblyman Guy Gregg today said that the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) bill approved today by the New Jersey General Assembly may be the nadir in New Jersey’s long and shameful history of fiscal irresponsibility.

"This bill is nothing less than an atrocity against our state’s fiscal health," said Gregg, R-Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon. "This bill is creating a debt burden from under which the taxpayers of this state may never be able emerge without enduring massive tax increases."

Governor Corzine's proposal increases annual spending on the TTF by $400 million per year up to $1.6 billion annually, but it provides only about $100 million more in revenue. In addition to restructuring $1.8 billion in existing debt, the plan would authorize additional borrowing with an extended 30-year repayment period.

This proposal is estimated to have a total cost of nearly $30 billion by the time all of the debt is retired in 2041.

"This bill will only make our state budget crisis worse by expanding our debt obligations and ensuring that five years from now the TTF program will be in no better shape than it is today," Gregg said. "The debt service payments on this plan will preclude us from spending money on schools and property tax relief and will only increase the likelihood of a tax increase in the near future."

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