NJ Trust Fund Hearing: Tuesday, May 30
The NJ Senate Transportation Committee will hold a public hearing Tuesday, May 30th on the provision of the Transportation Trust Fund renewal bill (S16) that would dedicate a further portion of petroleum and motor vehicle sales tax revenues to the Fund through a constitutional amendment. Many of the state's leading environmental transportation reform and transit labor groups, including the Amalgamated Transit Union, NJ Audubon Society, NJPIRG, Sierra Club, United Transport Union, and the Tri-State Campaign will attend the hearing to express their dissatisfaction with the bill. As it stands, the bill would hand state transportation agencies a renewed $1 billion blank check. At the hearing, the groups will ask Senators not to support the constitutional amendment until guidelines are added to the bill that would link spending to open space protection, road repair, traffic safety and mass transit and rail freight projects. If the amendment passes, these concerns will be brought to the public before the general vote that will be required on the measure in November.
