The debate on selling off the state’s toll roads has begun.
The Assembly Transportation Committee began hearings today to discuss the misbegotten proposal — with many of the members rightly pointing out how it is less likely to fix our debt problems than exacerbate them.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, the committee chairman, warned that any “monetization” plan would be similar to past borrowing schemes that have led to the state’s crushing debts. Selling or leasing state assets is now being promoted as a way to ease those burdens.
Wisniewski said a long-term privatization plan would still leave the public on the hook for billions of dollars of debt through higher tolls.
And this does not take into account the potential maintenance issues associated with a privatization plan.
As I’ve said before, end this debate now before we talk ourself into doing something dopey.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 