The two U.S. senators in New Jersey’s congressional delegation – Cory Booker and Robert Menendez – are vowing a major push for the state to get a sizable slice of President Joe Biden’s proposed $2 trillion infrastructure plan. And they’re outlining a trove of tactics, including negotiations and budget maneuvers, they can employ to push those measures through Capitol Hill–with or without bipartisan support.
The pair, both Democrats, said that tens of billions of dollars in funds could go toward helping New Jersey Transit pay for its $17 billion, five-year capital plan; long-needed funding for the Gateway Hudson River tunnel; a zero-emissions bus fleet; added rail capacity; modernizations of NJ Transit’s stations and rail bridges; and a light rail in North and South Jersey.
And there could be added funding for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, whose airports in the New York City metropolitan area have seen airfare revenue crater amid travel restrictions and stay-at-home advisories.
U.S Sens. Cory Booker, far left, and Robert Menendez, foreground, push for President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan in Newark on April 26, 2021. – OFFICE OF U.S. SEN. ROBERT MENEDEZ
“It’s unacceptable that the society of engineers ranks our infrastructure at a D+,” Booker said during a April 26 press conference outside Newark Penn Station. “It’s unacceptable that we have racked up almost $2 trillion of infrastructure deficit. It is now time that we invest in America again. It is now time that we invest in New Jersey again.”
Federal COVID-19 relief has been helpful for New Jersey’s public transportation agencies recently. Booker and Menendez highlighted $2 billion under the Trump-era package, which helped NJ Transit avoid lay-offs, budget-slashing and other service cuts.
“The coronavirus pandemic has had a crippling impact on nearly every aspect of our economy, including New Jersey’s transportation networks,” Booker continued.
Menendez estimates that NJ Transit would have needed to lay off between 1,800 and 2,000 workers, slash its fiscal year 2022 budget by 13% and make other service cuts had it not gotten the $2 billion, which will carry the agency through the 2024 fiscal year, and starts July 1 of that calendar year.
Just how the $2 trillion spending plan would fare is highly uncertainty – it faces a bitter partisan divide. Congressional Republicans proposed a more stripped down infrastructure plan, clocking in at nearly $600 billion. Democrats consider the measure a non-starter.
Menendez said the Senate could employ a process known as budget reconciliation, where the spending proposal needs a simple majority should Republicans not be on board. He said that such a route “is not our most desired option.”
