NJ gas tax hike signed into law to help fund infrastructure

ABERDEEN, N.J. (PIX11) - A new law hits the road, as Gov. Phil Murphy signs the renewal of the Transportation Trust Fund, or TTF, to help fund infrastructure.

"Having the best infrastructure in the nation in New Jersey is incredibly important," said Murphy. "We're the most densely populated state in America, we're on the northeast corridor - 20% of the nation's GDP is on that corridor. Having the nation's best transportation is a goal that we are proud to achieve."

At their safety training center in Aberdeen, the Laborers International Union of North America supported the legislation, which the governor's office says will create thousands of new jobs.

The law, though, comes at a cost, specifically, at the pump, with the gas tax being raised by nearly 2 cents every year for the next five years.

"No increase is obviously the preferred outcome," said Murphy, "but you're talking about 1.9 cents a year for five years. What you get back for that is double-digit billions of dollars of dollars of investment into the state's infrastructure - everything, roads, bridges, rails, tunnels."

While transportation has always been a bipartisan issue, the gas tax, for some, is a pill that's too hard to swallow.

"We're dealing with an inflation rate that we haven't dealt with in decades right now," said Assemblyman Christian Barranco (R-NJ 25th District). "If our roads and bridges are in bad shape, we're all in bad shape. I said from day one, we need a transportation trust fund. We just need to fund it in a way that's fair to everyone, and what we did was not fair."

The law also implements a $250 registration fee for electric vehicles.