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SECAUCUS – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, a proponent in the State Legislature of a plan to establish a public-private partnership to operate the New Jersey Turnpike, issued the following statement today after testifying at an Assembly Transportation Committee, saying that under his proposal the New Jersey Turnpike Authority could continue operating New Jersey’s toll roads:

“While my colleagues in the Legislature have every right to scrutinize my Turnpike proposal, I hope that, at the end of the day, they will give us a chance to improve upon it and help solve our current fiscal needs, while investing in our future through more mass transit opportunities, better roadways and more open space.

TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak today unveiled a landmark legislative proposal to authorize leasing the operations of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, a plan he believes will promote economic growth, encourage investment and dramatically reduce the total State debt which now exceeds $50 billion.

“New Jersey is at a crossroad,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union, and Chairman of the Senate Economic Growth Committee. “We cannot raise taxes or increase our debt, but we have obligations to invest in our future that we must make, or we will go backwards as a state.”