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Manzo bill would stop Turnpike sale

Monday, February 05, 2007
By ALI WINSTON
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Assemblyman Lou Manzo, D-Jersey City, is trying to put the brakes on Gov. Jon Corzine's proposed sale of the New Jersey Turnpike to private investors.

The proposed sale is opposed by Turnpike employees - and, reportedly, more than a third of them live in Hudson County.

Manzo's bill, which will go before the state Assembly before the end of the term, would bar the Turnpike Authority from turning over "comprehensive or overall operation or management of a highway project" to private developers.

Calling the sale a "quick-fix gimmick," Manzo said that the one-time injection of cash into state coffers would be far outweighed by the loss of a valuable public asset.

"Selling or transferring state assets, such as the lottery or land, to the pension fund for management is a more practical solution," he said. "The profits or value of the assets can be substituted for the annual state payment owed to the fund."

The controversial sale of highways to private investors in Illinois and Indiana, where tolls have risen and roadways have fallen into disrepair, has fueled the fears of Turnpike employees, represented by AFL-CIO Local 194.

Frank Forst, a representative for Turnpike employees, said workers are concerned about losing their state benefits - or even their jobs - if the Turnpike is privatized.

Manzo also said that turning over a public asset to private hands would complicate oversight of the Turnpike.

"Millions of dollars in profits that could be made by non-transparent handlers in the sale of such assets, in an already ethically-challenged climate, could provide for a pay-for-play smorgasbord," he said.