“It is up to those of us in this room to change the ‘credit card’ culture of New Jersey’s finances,” Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) told legislators during a somber Jan. 8 speech focusing heavily on the Garden State’s more-than-$30-billion debt.
Corzine proposed to the Democratic-controlled Legislature a four-pronged plan to confront what he called the “financial emergency” facing the state: freezing state spending at current levels, tying future spending to revenue growth, dramatically increasing tolls on the state’s roads and requiring voters to approve all future debt that doesn’t have a dedicated revenue source.
Acknowledging that the most controversial aspect of his plan is the toll-road component, Corzine called for a 50 percent hike in tolls starting in 2010, with subsequent hikes of up to 50 percent in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Corzine said his proposal would allow the state to eliminate $16 billion in debt in “one fell swoop” and was better than huge increases in income or gas taxes. He also vowed not to sell or lease state roads to the private sector, calling instead for a nonprofit “public benefit corporation” to manage — but not own — the roads.
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