Month: August 2021

The New Jersey Department of Treasury today announced that the gas tax will decrease 8.3 cents per gallon beginning October 1, 2021. The transportation capital plans remain unchanged for NJDOT (including Local Aid) and NJ Transit.

UTCA worked for language in the 2016 reauthorization of the Transportation Trust Fund that mandates an annual evaluation of the gas tax to ensure the state can provide a $2 billion transportation capital program. Pegging the rate to the size of the capital plan was necessary to avoid the political hurdles that enabled over two decades of neglect and debt that ultimately led to a complete shutdown of our industry in 2016.

Up until 2020, the “true-up” language has produced several small increases to the tax. In 2020 a 9.3 cent increase was necessary due to a pandemic-related decline in consumption. Citing a “swifter than expected economic recovery,” Treasury stated that gasoline and diesel fuel consumption had risen beyond stated projections, requiring under the law the decrease announced earlier today.

This action is not unexpected. UTCA anticipated a 2021 decrease in the tax given the rapid return of drivers and increases in-home deliveries. This provision of the TTF law is working as intended, to guarantee NJ has adequate funding to maintain its vast transportation network without overburdening the driving public.

Congressional Democrats today adopted a plan to consider the Senate-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) by September 27 of this year, and passed a procedural vote allowing work to begin on a separate, $3.5 trillion social spending package.

As previously reported, under the five-year IIJA New Jersey would receive approximately $6.8 billion for highways, $1.1 billion for bridges, $4.1 billion for transit, $250 million for drinking water, and $598 million for clean water under existing federal formulas, as well as a portion of the national allocations of $25 billion for airports, $21 billion for environmental remediation, and $17 billion for ports and waterways.

The 220-212 party-line vote ends a stalemate between Speaker Pelosi and a group of Democratic centrists led by NJ Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who wanted the IIJA passed before the $3.5 trillion social package was taken up for consideration. Passing the IIJA as soon as possible is imperative because the current surface transportation law, known as the FAST Act, expires on September 30.

If passed, the IIJA would be transformative for New Jersey infrastructure and today’s House agreement brings us one step closer to this historic investment. We will keep you updated as this landmark bill progresses.

The Senate today passed the long-awaited $1 trillion infrastructure package, formally known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The 69-30 vote marks a pivotal step in the advancement of the nation’s largest long-term infrastructure investment in nearly a century.

Under the five-year plan, New Jersey would receive approximately $6.8 billion for highways, $1.1 billion for bridges, $4.1 billion for transit, $250 million for drinking water, and $598 million for clean water under existing federal formulas.

For transportation, these figures do not include funding the state could receive under grants and related programs including $16 billion program for projects of national significance, $30 billion earmarked for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and $8 billion for capital improvement grants, each being considered as possible funding sources for the Gateway Tunnel Project.

We are also pleased to report that the UTCA toll credit marketplace provision is included in the bill, thanks to the efforts of Senator Booker. NJ has $5.5 billion of these credits and this provision would allow the State to sell them at a discount to other states. If included in the final legislation, this provision could raise billions of dollars for New Jersey’s transportation capital plan.

What’s Next
The Senate worked through the weekend, holding several procedural votes Saturday and Sunday which cleared the way for today’s final vote. The bill now heads to the House for consideration, although the timeframe for action remains unclear.

The bill has detractors on both sides of the aisle and will need to clear significant hurdles in the House to earn passage, not the least of which is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s statement that the lower chamber will not consider the bill until the Senate passes Democrats’ $3.5 trillion social spending package.

Despite the challenges, there is still a viable path forward for the measure as both President Biden and House moderates push for passage of the Senate-brokered language. Pressure on the Speaker has been increasing steadily, but for now it is a waiting game – both chambers have a scheduled August recess, but could be called back early.

This is the closest we’ve come to passing an infrastructure bill of this size, and for now, we remain cautiously optimistic that Congress will pass this once-in-a-generation measure. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as this historic bill advances.