12/16/05-While on the campaign trail for the New Jersey governor’s seat, Sen. Jon Corzine promised he wouldn’t raise the state’s fuel tax.
“There will be no gas tax hike in a Corzine administration,” he told the Asbury Park Press before the election. “There’s no argument about whether we’re going to have a gas tax hike. That’s not the way to fund the Transportation Trust Fund.”
But a month after landing the state’s top job, Corzine has a new outlook. Now that fuel prices have eased and New Jersey’s budget cap has risen to more than $5 billion, he said he’ll reconsider his position on taxes.
Corzine made his new intentions known after Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny, D-Hoboken, said he would introduce a bill in the legislative session that begins in January to increase the state’s per-gallon-tax on gasoline and diesel to replenish the near-bankrupt trust fund that pays for transportation.
The governor-elect said he would pursue alternatives, which include sending more of the current fuel tax into the trust fund instead of the state’s general budget. But he said boosting the tax might have to be considered.
Lawmakers repeatedly have declined to raise the fuel tax, which is among the lowest in the country. Instead, legislators have opted to use billions in borrowed money to keep the fund afloat. But now, all the money coming into the fund is needed.

9/29/05-Acting Gov. Richard Codey is calling for lawmakers to permit police to pull over drivers solely for violating the statewide ban on handheld cell phone use.
Currently, drivers can only be cited for using a handheld device when being stopped for another offense.
Existing New Jersey law fines drivers between $100 and $250 for using their cell phones while driving. The rule limits drivers to the use of “hands-free” devices, but still allows drivers to dial, answer and turn on their cell phones.