NJ Dems make election year U-turn on toll hikes

TRENTON, N.J. – Drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway were about to be hit with the fourth toll increase in four years, because Gov. Phil Murphy approved a 2020 plan that raises tolls annually, But then, Murphy and Democrats made an abrupt U-turn days before the entire state Legislature is up for reelection.

WATCH: NJ Dems make election year U-turn on toll hikes“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. It’s kind of an interesting thing that Democrats do here in New Jersey,” Republican Assembly Leader John DiMaio told CBS-NY’s Nick Caloway.

Gov. Phil Murphy stopped – at least temporarily – toll hikes on the New Jersey Turnpike and Parkway scheduled for Jan. 1. He said on Oct. 26 that he vetoed the budget approved by the Turnpike Authority two days earlier and wants “more information for why the board is taking this step.” ”

Not surprisingly, Murphy and Democrats didn’t see the need to veto the increases for the last three years. So far, drivers have had to pay between 40% and 50% more, affecting more than 1 million commuters every day.