(ATLANTIC CITY) — Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson/Bergen) released the following statement Thursday after the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee held its fourth hearing on New Jersey’s transportation funding crisis:
“As I’ve said throughout these hearings, there’s a pressing need for us to make sure our transportation infrastructure is taken care of.
“The Assembly has not been idle in this process. These hearings are not merely optics. This is for real – to show the necessity and importance our roads play throughout our state and the impact they have on our economy. Investing in our roads will spur job creation and a much-needed economic renaissance throughout our state.
“If we continue to kick the can down the road, we’ll end up spending more to pay down debt than we will in investing in our infrastructure.
“Mayors throughout our state understand the importance of our road infrastructure, especially if we have another harsh winter like last year. It’s absolutely crucial that we properly assess our capital needs in order to make sure we provide municipalities the proper funding to address their ailing infrastructure needs in a timely manner before our roads and bridges become even more structurally deficient and obsolete. We have to get this right.”