NJ Roads Not For Sale

The way to deal with this is to cut costs. But as we've seen in the past few weeks, Corzine's no Scrooge. He's Santa Claus, and he'll be coming down a lot of chimneys tonight in the homes of the public employees and public contractors.

-- Star Ledger 12/24/06

"The unintended consequences of this bad public policy are nearly incalculable."

-- Senator Anthony Bucco, R-Morris

Asbury Park Press 12/22/06

There are few, if any scenarios in which private ownership of the state's highways would benefit the taxpayers.

-- Abigail C. Field. Lobbyist for the NJ Public Interest Research Group

Asbury Park Press 12/22/06

"We must stop borrowing and using gimmicks to pay today's bills."

-- Jon Corzine, Campaign 2005

Asbury Park Press 12/22/06

"Selling the state's highways is like selling your car to go to a party. Last years budget had $340 million of pork stuffed into it 24 hours after it was introduced. That's where lawmakers should begin."

-- Senator Diane Allen, R- Edgewater Park

Courier Post 2/17/07

"As appealing as the easy dollar signs might be -- $20 billion for the turnpike alone - toll road leasing is one gimmick that has wrong turn written all over it."

-- Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-Sayreville

Courier Post 2/17/07

"They are not focused on the fact that the national volume of freight is expected to double within the next 10 to 20 years. Rather than identifying was to fix major clogs in the infrastructure, they view roads as profit centers. It's the exact opposite of what leaders should be doing. Its narrow and demoralizing, and I am gravely concerned. "

-- Jeff Tucker, CEO of Tucker Co.

Courier Post 2/17/07

"You don't have to be a genius to figure out what the state has to do. Cut spending, period. They refuse to get it because they think that won't get them re-elected. Selling assets is selling the future. When the money is gone, what's left?"

-- Jose Del Gado, a retired police officer with the Delaware River Port Authority

Courier Post 2/17/07

"What we do know is that New Jersey commuters will be forced to pay more in tolls without any recourse."

-- Senator Anthony Bucco, R-Morris

Asbury Park Press 12/19/06

"If a private firm thinks it can make money on the turnpikes even after making a hefty lease payment to the states, doesn't that suggest serious inefficiencies in how the roads are run? Couldn't the state benefit just by running the turnpikes differently?"

-- Philly Inquirer Editorial 02/27/07

"Friends don't let friends monetize. I think this is a mistake for the long-term interests of New Jersey."

-- Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth

NewHouse Service 2/19/07

"I cannot see how we can turnover a highway to a for-profit venture and expect the quality of service and level of service to remain the same."

-- Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, D-Bergen

NewHouse Service 2/19/07

Toll hikes would be inevitable if a private company were to take over the road. The cost of those increased tolls would be borne by consumers all over the state.

-- Gail Toth, Director of the NJ Motor Truck Association

NewHouse Service 2/19/07

"It's a model of efficiency in a state where we so often have things wrong. Maybe we have it backwards; maybe we should be selling the state to the Turnpike Authority."

-- Assemblyman Lou Manzo, D-Jersey City

NewHouse Service 2/19/07

"We're swimming in uncharted waters."

-- Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole, R-Bergen

Philadelphia Inquirer 3/5/07

58% of voter say leasing the Turnpike is a bad idea.
17% are for it.

-- Fairleigh Dickinson University Public mind Poll.

Home News Tribune 03/08/07.

"Monetize" is a euphemism for "borrow money." Whether you call it a sale, lease or creating a new authority, the governor wants to borrow billions of dollars today against the future toll receipts of the Garden State Parkway, the New Jersey Turnpike and the Atlantic City Expressway. Toll increases would be a given. What is also a given is that if we borrow $15 billion today we'll end up paying back $30 billion over time and that the governor's old Wall Street pals will make millions in fees for putting the deal together.”

-- Art Gallagher

"Motorists, would pay more because of the potential for annual toll increases… Asset monetization is a one-shot deal… It's not free money. It's money that has to get paid back."

-- Assemblyman John Wisniewski

"We would be begging for our jobs"

--Franceline Ehret, President of Local 194

(The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.)

"The last time New Jersey created a public company to monetize a long-term asset was the tobacco settlement securitization. The state received only 44 cents on the dollar and spent the money without solving our financial crisis. Will a public Turnpike deal be a similar financial boondoggle?"

"Just as the public tobacco settlement "monetization" failed to deliver fair value or long-term financial benefit, the infamous Schools Construction Corporation (SCC) showed how a public corporation can be opaque and unaccountable."

-- Abigail Caplovitz Field

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