TRENTON – Senator Nicholas Sacco (D-Hudson and Bergen), Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, released the following statement regarding Governor Christie’s budget proposals announced today during the Legislature’s joint session:
“Asking NJ Transit to cut costs through greater efficiencies is one thing, but trying to balance the budget by depleting the agency’s emergency reserves, hiking fares and cutting services and discounts for commuters makes no sense. Any reduction that increases the out-of-pocket expense for the average New Jerseyan is unacceptable.
“A fare increase on Transit riders is nothing more than a tax hike on our hard-working residents who can least afford it. And service cuts would likely leave people who rely on NJ Transit to get to work, and are already putting in long days, stranded for hours before getting home to their families.
“We recognize that everyone must share in the pain to solve the State’s financial woes, but slamming middle-class workers with added costs unfairly shifts the burden onto families who are already struggling to make ends meet.”