Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, the Republican Budget Officer in the Assembly and a representative of northern Monmouth County in the lower house of the legislature has taken some criticism here in the MMM comments and on facebook for not voting on the Transportation Trust Fund bill that was sprung on the Assembly by Speaker Vincent Prieto and Governor Chris Christie in the middle of the night on June 30. The bill, which would have increased the gas tax by $.23 per gallon and lowered the state sales tax from 7% to 6% passed in the Assembly and was never voted on by the Senate.
Now almost six weeks later with the TTF still not renewed and road projects stalled throughout the state, O’Scanlon said that he believes “even more strongly that my decision was exactly the right one.”
O’Scanlon issued the following statement to MMM to explain his decision not to vote on the Assembly TTF bill:
Freeholder Director Tom Arnone said he will announce a plan to restart the Shark River dredging project Wednesday morning at the Shark River Marina in Neptune Township.
The project, which had restarted on schedule on July 1 was halted at midnight on July 8 when Governor Christie’s executive order halting projects funded by the Transportation Trust Fund took effect.
The legislature failed to pass TTF funding with a $.23 per gallon gas tax on June 30th. The Senate’s plan was to increase the gas tax while phasing out the estate tax and reducing income taxes on retirees. Christie and the Assembly agreed on a bill that would have raised the gas tax and reduced the sales tax from 7% to 6%. Senate President Steve Sweeny and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto agreed to pass a revised version of the Senate’s original bill last week. Yesterday, Christie said the Democrats plan is “dead on arrival.”
Brian T. Murray, Governor Chris Christie’s spokesman, told MMM in an email that Christie has not seen the Transportation Trust Fund legislation that Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto announced today.
New Jersey’s infrastructure construction projects have been shut down since July 8 when the TFF was down to a $10 million balance which being held for emergency projects.
Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto have a compromise deal on the Transportation Trust Fund, according to an announcement on the NJ Senate Democrats website.
“We have an agreement on a plan that is needed to address the state’s critical transportation needs at the same time it provides targeted tax savings for retirees, the working poor and middle class families,” said Senator Sweeney (D-Salem/Cumberland/Gloucester). “This is a bipartisan plan that supports a $2 billion a year Transportation Trust Fund and provides affordable tax cuts that will allow us to meet the state’s pension obligations without creating a fiscal crisis. This is an investment plan that will create jobs and support immediate and long-term economic growth.”
TRENTON — After calling the Senate president’s proposal to end a stalemate over funding for construction projects “ridiculous” earlier this week, Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday delivered a counteroffer. No details of either proposal are known, but a spokesman for Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he is reviewing the latest proposal. The governor and Senate are… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — The state Assembly hastily approved a plan after midnight Tuesday to cut the sales tax by a penny in exchange for raising the gas tax by 23 cents a gallon to rescue the near-broke… Read the rest of this entry »
Governor Chris Christie is back on the Town Hall circuit…now he is calling them forums…as he meets New Jersey voters on Tuesday in Wall Township to promote the school funding formula that he announced last week.
The “Fairness Formula Forum” will take place in the Wall branch of the Monmouth County Library, 2700 Allaire Rd., Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. The doors open at 2:15 p.m and seating his first come first served. RSVPs are encouraged for planning purposes to [email protected].
Christie is saying that he wants a referendum in 2017 to amend the State Constitution so that State education funding is distributed equally to all school age children throughout the New Jersey. He says that the State would contribute $6,500 per student. Currently roughly 75% of State funding goes to 31 school districts, formerly referred to Abbott districts for the landmark Abbott vs Burke NJ Supreme Court decision that mandated that the State subsidize poor and urban districts.
We’ve been reporting for years on how Monmouth County Democrat Chairman Vin Gopal has been raising special interest money in Trenton as well as from Hudson and Essex Counties so that he can take over our beautiful county, pave it over and award contracts and patronage jobs to his benefactors. Fortunately, he’s had limited success.
Now, thanks to Hudson County View, we have the chairman on tape sharing the next step of his plan. The money is not enough, he needs to bring voters into the county courtesy of the Hudson County boss, Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto.
Assemblyman Dave Rible visiting fourth grade students at Spring Lake Hts Elementary School
Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, the Democrat leaders of the New Jersey Legislature, called for a tax on water for fund the repair and replacement of the state’s aging and lead contaminated water infrastructure.
Assemblyman Dave Rible, the Republican Conference Leader in the lower house, said raising taxes is not the answer. Rible is introducing a bill that would allow municipalities to contribute the monies now earmarked for affordable housing construction to instead by dedicated to a fund to be used to remediate lead contaminated properties.
“While we need to address the serious issue of lead contamination in our communities, raising taxes is not the answer,” said Rible. “This bill would provide vital funding for rehabilitating lead-contaminated properties without forcing taxpayers to dig deeper to pay for these projects.”
Governor Chris Christie, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto announced this afternoon that a compromised had been reached over two competing proposals to amend the New Jersey Constitution to allow casino gambling in northern New Jersey.
The compromise requires that, should New Jersey voters approve the proposed Constitutional amendment in November, that the new licensees be required to invest at least $1 billion in constructing new casinos and to impose a timeline on the licensees to build the new casinos.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, the Republican Budget Officer in the Assembly and a representative of northern Monmouth County in the lower house of the legislature has taken some criticism here in the MMM comments and on facebook for not voting on the Transportation Trust Fund bill that was sprung on the Assembly by Speaker Vincent Prieto and Governor Chris Christie in the middle of the night on June 30. The bill, which would have increased the gas tax by $.23 per gallon and lowered the state sales tax from 7% to 6% passed in the Assembly and was never voted on by the Senate.
