Outrageous Plan To Use Gas Tax Proceeds to Repair Boardwalks

Bramnick and Munoz Need To Stand Against the Mess They Helped Create

District 21 Independent Conservatives Assembly candidates Martin Marks of Cranford and Harris Pappas of Springfield commented on the recent plan floated by Trenton politicians to raid the New Jersey Transportation (NJDOT) Trust Fund in order to pay for Wildwood’s Boardwalk repairs. Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) spearheaded the drive that led to a 185% increase in New Jersey’s gas tax. His running mate in LD21 Nancy Munoz (R-Summit) was a no-show when the final vote was taken to spike the gas tax.

“The premise that Jon Bramnick put forward to his constituents and his Republican Assembly caucus members was that this massive tax hike was necessary to repair our state’s roads. I think it should be obvious to any objective observer that our roads are still in horrible shape after this 185% gas tax increase. It was also just a matter of time before Trenton politicians saw a pool of taxpayer dollars that could be raided for their own pet projects. The repair of the Wildwood boardwalk is just one of those pet projects and in no way should qualify for NJDOT trust fund dollars,” Marks stated

Pappas added, “It is troubling that Bramnick and Munoz have remained curiously quiet regarding this plan to shift taxpayer funds earmarked for road repair to boardwalk repair. Perhaps their silence is due to the fact that they were duped into supporting the unprecedentedly high gas tax increase for a paltry reduction in our sales tax—-which not too surprisingly has already been proposed to roll back to its original level. It is time for Bramnick and Munoz to not only stand up to this outrageous proposal to raid the Trust Fund, but also to admit that the 185% increase in our gas tax was a mistake to begin with. When elected to the Assembly, Martin Marks and I will make the roll back of this gas tax rate a top priority.