TRENTON, NJ – In a sudden reversal days before state Legislature elections, Gov. Phil Murphy and New Jersey Democrats halted a planned toll increase on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. The increase would have been the fourth in as many years.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced on October 26 that he had vetoed the budget approved by the Turnpike Authority two days prior, requesting “more information for why the board is taking this step.”
This move comes despite no such vetoes on toll increases in the previous three years, which have led to drivers paying between 40% and 50% more in tolls, impacting over 1 million commuters daily.
Republican Assembly Leader John DiMaio criticized the decision, suggesting in an interview with CBS-NY that the reversal was a political maneuver.
“You drive up costs as high as you can. Then you demand that they be lowered and look like you’re saving us from yourselves,” DiMaio said.