An LED gas station sign. (File Photo)
Breathe easy, drivers. You’re off the hook for a gas tax increase, at least for now.
The state Senate has chosen against voting for a bipartisan compromise bill that would have raised the gas tax by 23 cents based on current fuel prices in exchange for a reduction of the state sales tax by 1 percent.
The move came after Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat, announced that there wasn’t enough support in his chamber for the plan, already passed by the Assembly, to move forward.
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“The Senate just doesn’t agree with the Assembly’s bill,” Sweeney said, according to a report in the Press of Atlantic City. “The Senate feels it’s too expensive.”
The Senate’s version of the bill eliminated the estate tax.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Trust Fund, which was originally expected to run out on June 30, will remain solvent through Aug. 10, the state treasurer announced Thursday. That announcement bolstered the decision to put the tax increase on hold while the Senate decides on a new compromise.
