The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced the nomination of acting Transportation Commissioner Priya Jain following a brief hearing Thursday that saw her field questions about traffic, safety, and the state of New Jersey’s roads and bridges.
The unanimous vote means Jain, an engineer who has held a range of roles in the private sector, could get a confirmation vote before the full Senate as soon as Monday.
“Throughout my career, I have worked closely with public agencies to manage significant public investment and to deliver projects that communities rely on every day. That experience informs how I will approach this role,” she told the panel.
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Lawmakers urged Jain to have the department address litter on roadways, seek federal funding for sinkholes that shut down a stretch of Route 80 last year, improve traffic safety, and maintain the state’s aging bridges.
Though she gave few details, Jain repeatedly indicated she is willing to work with lawmakers to enhance road safety.
“None of us want to have a bridge safety accident happen on our watch,” she said.
Jain declined to say how the state should fund NJ Transit, saying those decisions are best left to lawmakers.
“Long term, I will say the Legislature will need to find the right funding formula, including whether there should be fees that should be there or tolls should be increased or fares should be increased, but the goal has to be to really look at and make sure we don’t stray from safety, reliability, efficiency,” Jain said.
NJ Transit operates with a patchwork of funding sources, including direct state subsidies, statutorily dedicated tax revenue, money from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, and diversions from other state funds.
Continued funding of the agency is likely to become a political battle later in the governor’s term.
The state also provides funds to NJ Transit via the corporate transit fee, a 2.5% non-marginal surtax on businesses with more than $1 million in annual profit (the revenue is dedicated by statute to NJ Transit). The surtax is set to expire on Jan. 1, 2029, and business groups are expected to oppose its renewal, just as they opposed its adoption.
Revenue from the surtax was initially expected to account for about a quarter of the agency’s funding in the current fiscal year, but the tax underperformed due to falling estimated payments, changes in the federal tax code automatically adopted by New Jersey, and an April 2025 court decision that allowed some businesses to claim refunds for previous tax years.
Sherrill’s first budget proposal, unveiled earlier this week, keeps NJ Transit’s patchwork of funding largely intact. She has proposed raising the agency’s direct state subsidy from $43.9 million to $282.2 million, and her pitch keeps the annual diversion from New Jersey’s clean energy fund level at $140.1 million.
The agency is also set to receive more than $765.6 million from the corporate transit fee and $485 million through an agreement with the Turnpike Authority. Collections from fares, which typically account for the largest share of the agency’s revenue, are expected to remain flat at a little less than $1 billion.
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