Gov. Chris Christie late Thursday declared a state of emergency and ordered New Jersey officials to plan a shutdown of all ongoing work paid for by the state’s nearly broke Transportation Trust Fund.
Christie's order came at the end of a day where the state Senate refused to take action on his offer to raise the gasoline tax by 23 cents a gallon in exchange for a 1-cent reduction in the sales tax.
He is instructing the Department of Transportation and NJ Transit leaders to submit plans by the end of the day Saturday for an "immediate and orderly shutdown of all ongoing work."
All state and municipal roadwork supported by the trust fund will halt according to those plans and can only resume if deemed essential for "the protection of the health, safety and welfare" of the public.
In his executive order, Christie placed blame on the Senate and slammed its leadership for refusing to go along with his proposal in favor of their own, which would raise the gas tax by the same amount but reduce different taxes.
The Assembly approved Christie's plan in the early morning hours Tuesday after he and Speaker Vincent Prieto struck a compromise.
