It’s going to be a very long
election season if the campaign becomes an increasingly shrill debate over which
candidate is most opposed to selling the state’s toll roads. That’s what’s
happening now, at least in the 1st and 2nd
districts.
To some degree, Gov. Jon S.
Corzine brought this on himself by couching this issue in eye-glazing terms like
“monetization” and by keeping details under wraps until after the November
election. In fact, it’s not all that hard: Corzine wants to borrow money, which
would be repaid by a series of toll hikes. There are a lot of unanswered
questions, but that’s the basic plan.
Corzine has been as
straightforward as a politician gets about this much: He will not sell or lease the roads to a private
company. His idea is to lease state toll roads to a nonprofit, publicly owned
company in order to sell bonds that would be paid off by revenue from a
scheduled series of toll hikes. Those bonds could then be used to pay down debt
or invest in capital projects.
So, candidates, could we stop
arguing about who is most against “selling” our roads — and argue about some
real issues?
Here’s a key one: How would the
state use the money borrowed — and should motorists pay that
bill?
If, for example, the state used
the money solely to pay off its
crushing debt, it would essentially be shifting debt payments from the budget
and state taxpayers to state (and out-of-state) motorists. New Jersey residents have
been taxed out, but tolls are still a relative bargain. The critical question
then becomes what to do with the money freed up in the budget: Roll back some of
the innumerable tax hikes passed over the past few years? Fund such needs as the
state’s staggering pension and health-care obligations? Or create new spending
programs?
Another question is why the state
needs to create a new agency or corporation to do what it wants to do. Why not
just use the existing toll-road authorities? And, of course, yet another key
question is how much money Corzine wants to borrow — and how dramatically that
would raise tolls.
The N.J. Public Interest Research
Group (www.njpirg.org) has also raised some questions that don’t reduce well to
a politician’s lawn sign. But they provide the outline for a more thoughtful
public debate. Among the questions PIRG is asking is whether the public will
retain real public control of the toll roads — not just public ownership — and
whether the state is about to get involved in another borrowing scheme that will
cause it to lose money in the long run on interest payments and bonding fees.
PIRG points out that former Gov. James E. McGreevey borrowed against future
revenues from the tobacco settlement and wound up getting only 44 cents on the
dollar. Moreover, that money was spent without solving the state’s dire
financial problems.
Corzine’s resistance to unveiling
a plan that might answer those questions before the election leaves a vacuum —
one that’s being filled by simplistic political rhetoric and
finger-pointing.
And yes, we know campaigns lend
themselves to simplicity and distortion, not nuanced policy debate. But
candidates should take the high road and at least stop calling this a “sale.”
And the public should demand candidates address the real issues surrounding the
state’s deep fiscal problems — and whether toll hikes are the best way to solve
them.
It’s a tougher issue than
“selling” roads, but unless voters force candidates to address them, they
deserve the government they get.
