NJ governor: We
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has repeated his pledge not to repay the federal government $271 million, which the federal says is owed it despite the cancellation of Access to the Region’s Core, a rail tunnel designed for additional NJ Transit rail traffic to reach Midtown Manhattan. The money was due Tuesday.
Reiterating an argument he made earlier, the governor (pictured at left) said the federal government had released the money even though the tunnel, whose projected costs were escalating to nearly $10 billion, did not have final approval or safeguards in place to guard against waste. In December, Christie said the Federal Transit Administration was holding New Jersey to a different standard than other states that scrapped public works projects and relying on "bureaucratic power plays to wring even more money from New Jerseyans."
FTA already has said that if the debt became delinquent, it would charge New Jersey interest, could report the claim to commercial credit bureaus and reserved the right to forward it to the U.S. Department of Justice for debt collection.
Some New Jersey rail advocates note that the U.S. Department of Transportation as a whole has various options beyond FTA’s own. “It might withhold an equal amount of funding for highways, and it can make sure any future rail transit projects considered by New Jersey get, if not short shrift, a ‘thorough review,’” one New Jersey transportation planner points out.
