New Jersey lawmakers, furious at the recently announced toll hikes on the Garden State Parkway and NJ Turnpike, are calling on Governor Phil Murphy to take action against them.

“Commuters cannot afford to pay higher tolls at a time when prices are increasing for consumer goods across the board,”
Senator Christopher Connors, Assemblyman Brian Rumpf and Assemblywoman DiAnne Gove said in a joint statement.

“Businesses in the state which are trying to remain competitive with other tax-friendly states will have yet another cost increase imposed by Trenton to contend with, making it that much harder to be profitable.

“New Jerseyans will recall that these toll hikes, which were approved in the early months of the pandemic, conveniently and deliberately limited opportunity for public scrutiny while living up to Trenton’s abysmal record on transparency. Justifiably, our Delegation called out Trenton and demanded that the toll hikes be vetoed by the Governor as we also worked to keep our constituents apprised of the situation—as much of the public’s focus was directed to COVID-related issues at the time.

“Don’t believe the hollow words of officials who claim to be standing up for the middle class while, at the same time, support toll hike increases or do nothing to stop them. During the holidays, many of our constituents are now forced to ask how they are going to afford yet another cost increase. Most residents of urban areas with access to mass transit will not only largely escape the financial hit from the toll hikes but will likely benefit from the revenue generated which will undoubtedly be siphoned off for mass transit projects. The timing also inured to Trenton’s benefit, as the toll hikes are set to take effect in January 2022, two months after the gubernatorial and state legislative elections.

“As always, our Delegation will serve the interests of our constituents who are absolutely fed up with a government that cannot control spending and is more interested in pandering to special interests than looking out for the average taxpayer. After the results of the recent election, we sincerely hope that Trenton received a wake-up call that the status quo of obscene levels of taxing, spending, and borrowing will be met with more intensified resistance by those who understand that the state’s current fiscal trajectory is unsustainable and reckless.”