Epic NJ Transit Failure; Jay Webber Demands Murphy Explain Where Tax Hike Dollars Went
Press Release
Again, New Jersey Transit has let down their riders by cancelling over 20 trains last night. Alerts stated that all of the cancellations were because of a lack of engineer availability. The problems of NJ Transit today are ones Jay Webber worked to stop years ago. In 2011, the Legislature and Governor Christie passed legislation that required all new public employees to live in New Jersey. Jay was one of only a handful of lawmakers to vote against the bill. Just a few years later, many people, including Governor Phil Murphy, believe this legislation has resulted in an engineer and staffing shortage that has led to many of NJ Transit's train cancellations and delays.
"It was bad policy then and we're seeing the effects of it today," said campaign spokesperson Ronica Cleary. "Jay was one of a small handful of lawmakers to see the damage this type of meritless requirement would do to our commuters, and New Jersey is now suffering the consequences."
Today, in the face of increasing commuter anxiety and inexplicable delays, Governor Murphy is calling for an end to the employee residency requirement. Jay is pleased to see the potential for common ground, but is frustrated that the Murphy Administration is not going far enough to fix this issue.
Jay said, "I'm glad Democrats and Republicans are willing to work together to fix NJ Transit to help the people of this State get access to the public transportation they deserve. But I'm also troubled that Governor Murphy raised our taxes by $1.7 billion to do it, and services seem to be declining. Murphy campaigned on fixing NJ Transit, he raised our taxes to do so, and now we need to see some results."
Jay continued, "The Gateway Tunnel is a key component to getting New Jersey commuters a more predictable, timely, and sustainable commute to work. In Congress, Republicans and Democrats must work together to get this done, and no candidate in this field will be better positioned to negotiate with the Trump Administration to get this done than I. Just like I did with Governor Christie, I will work with the President when he's right, oppose him when he's wrong, and always put the needs of our district first."
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