State Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) introduced Senate Bill 1865 on March 17. Senate Bill 1865 would increase the state motor fuels tax in order to fund additional road and bridge improvement projects throughout the state of New Jersey.
SB 1865 would raise the motor fuels tax by five-cents-per-gallon each year for three years. The bill would ensure that the new revenue collected would exclusively be used for state transportation improvement programs. Senator Lesniak says that his bill would generate $250 million annually to support transportation infrastructure projects.
Senator Lesniak said in a press release that “the state’s transportation infrastructure is collapsing…the roads have been neglected for years and the harsh winter left a landscape of potholes that are damaging and dangerous. This has a severe impact on our quality of life and the state’s economy. This plan will provide the resources needed to repair, rebuild, and maintain the highways, bridges, and roadways that are so important in New Jersey.”
New Jersey’s gasoline tax currently stands at 14.5-cents-per-gallon, and it has not been increased since 1992.