GOP Senate candidate joins debate on state toll hikes
By THOMAS BARLAS
Staff Writer, 609-272-7201
Published: Friday, May 16, 2008
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - Another federal candidate out of New Jersey waded into state issues on Thursday, warning that Gov. Jon S. Corzine's toll-hike plan may not yet be dead.Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer said the Corzine administration will likely raise the issue in a different form after the state budget is adopted July 1.Speaking during a press conference at a Garden State Parkway reststop here, Zimmer specifically noted statements by state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union. Lesniak said in March there would likely be a 45 percent toll hike and a gasoline tax increase by the end of the year."Faced with an almost daily rise in the cost of gas, New Jersey residents cannot afford to pay higher tolls," said Zimmer, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the state Legislature.Zimmer isn't the first federal candidate to tackle the toll-hike plan: Several Democrats and Republicans hoping to tap into earlier voter unhappiness with the proposal condemned it, saying it was too great a financial burden on the state's fiscally strapped residents.
Under Corzine's original proposal, tolls on the parkway, New Jersey Turnpike and Atlantic City Expressway would have increased by 50 percent in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022. Tolls would have increased every four years after 2022 to reflect inflation.Corzine said the additional toll revenue is needed to pay off the state's debt and finance needed improvements to bridges, roads and other transportation-linked projects throughout New Jersey.However, the plan ran up against significant opposition from both Republican and Democratic state legislators.Zimmer said it is proper for him to venture into this state issue because "New Jersey residents already have the third-highest combined tax burden in the nation, and they are hurting because of out-of-control spending in Trenton and Washington.""I call on the governor to consider a new approach to governing," Zimmer said. "Shrink the size and cost of government by cutting government spending. State government needs to focus on cutting spending and stop looking for ways to increase the tax burden on our people."Zimmer is running for the seat currently held by Democrat Frank Lautenberg.Other Republican U.S. Senate candidates include college professor Murray Sabrin and state Sen. Joseph Pennachio, whose legislative districts covers portions of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties.To e-mail Thomas Barlas:TBarlas@pressofac.com
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