TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) today issued the following statement regarding the selection by Governor-elect Phil Murphy of Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti to serve as state Transportation Commissioner:
“Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti will be taking on awesome responsibilities to find ways to improve our neglected transportation infrastructure and to help a new NJ Transit executive director rebuild the largest state mass transit agency in the nation. She will need to take a lead role in pushing for completion of the Gateway Rail Tunnel project and expanding our bus fleet in conjunction with the expansion of capacity at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
“The Senate has played a lead role on a bipartisan basis in transportation policy, including passage of an eight-year, $2 billion a year Transportation Trust Fund that will give the new transportation commissioner the stable source of funding she needs for long-term planning. Her 22 years at the New Jersey Turnpike Authority will give her valuable insights into New Jersey’s transportation needs.
“I look forward to meeting with Gutierrez-Scaccetti prior to her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, and to an in-depth interview with her as we explore solutions requiring cooperation between the Legislature and the new administration.”