A group of labor and business groups has launched a six-figure paid media campaign to support extending the Transportation Trust Fund for an additional five years and create some political cover for legislators.
Building the Future Foundation is supported by the Laborers’ International Union of North America, the Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey (UTCA), the American Council of Engineering Companies of New Jersey, and the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce and wants to build public support for legislation that will raise the gas tax a little under two cents per gallon each year for the next five years.
The plan also calls for a $250 surcharge for electric vehicles that use the roads but don’t pay into the TTF.
The group also released an American Road & Transportation Builders Association study showing that a $2.3 billion highway and infrastructure capital plan would create over 21,400 jobs that generate roughly $432 million in annual state and federal tax revenue and a $4.6 billion boon to the local economy.