(TRENTON) — Assemblyman Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) issued a multimedia package Monday criticizing the Christie administration for its failure to properly fund the state’s Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) and maintain the state’s surface road infrastructure.
According to published reports, the governor’s failure to properly provide the TTF with pay-as-you-go funding will result in the fund becoming insolvent a year earlier than projected.
The multimedia package consists of a video of Singleton’s commentary and audio and a transcript of same.
The video can be accessed directly via our website — www.assemblydems.com — or by clicking here.
The audio file is available upon request.
A transcript of Singleton’s comments is appended below:
Assemblyman Troy Singleton (D-Burlington):
“Our transportation network is essential to our ability to move goods and services throughout the state and it is essential to our economic growth.
“And by any measure, any fair, reasonable accounting, the governor’s handling of the Transportation Trust Fund has been woeful, quite frankly. We’re in a position where his five year capital program is actually going to run out of money before the end of five years and he’s going to ask the citizens of this state to do one of two things: either incur more debt to fund it; or look at an alternative revenue stream, which the governor has been reticent to, sort of, present to us.
“So, as we look at this; as we debate whether or not his stewardship of our overall finances has been in good order, we can look at the Transportation Trust Fund and responsibly say ‘No, it hasn’t.’
“The frustrating part, the absolutely frustrating part is that our transportation network is so essential to our ability to grow our economy, that years and years of neglect, through this administration and others, quite frankly – but more pronounced with this administration, with the amount of debt that it has been incurred – and it makes us wonder where are the priorities? Who’s really looking out for the taxpayer with respect to this, because our roads are in terrible shape.
“The citizens of the State of New Jersey elected the governor to do a job and, right now, when it comes to transportation, he’s failing that job.”