2 Bills Moving Through NJ Legislature Aimed To Help Residents As Gas Prices Reach Record Highs
PENNSAUKEN, N.J. (CBS) -- They just keep climbing. This morning residents in the Tri-State area are waking up to even higher gas prices.
Gas has reached record highs in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware and now people are looking for relief.
The average gallon of gas in New Jersey will now cost you north of $4.50 and it continues to climb, but there are two bills moving through the state legislature aimed at helping drivers offset the current cost of gas.
The first bill was presented by New Jersey Assemblyman Raj Mukherji. It would provide rebates to every New Jersey resident who owns a noncommercial vehicle that's registered in the state.
Those rebates would be worth $400 to $800 depending on how long you've lived in New Jersey during the year.
The proposal would also create a fare holiday for New Jersey Transit from June through August, meaning residents would be able to ride public transportation for free during the summer months.
The second bill was introduced by Gloucester County Sen. Ed Dur and it would provide $500 to New Jersey families for gas prices and inflation relief.
CBS3 spoke with Voytek Wolfe, an associate professor of political science at Rutger's University in Camden.
He says the rising prices at the pump are the result of a lack of investment in oil, the war in Ukraine and regulatory issues.
"They're all highly political issues," Wolfe said. "We're going into midterm elections, then prepping for presidential elections, so I imagine it is going to be a hot topic issue."
Residents are feeling the pain as they fill up their tanks.
"Everything is more expensive, man. You know I got to pay for gas to get to my two $7.25 per hour jobs. How am I going to feed my kids?" one man said.
Another woman says she tries to go to New Jersey when she can to fill up her tank because Philadelphia prices are even higher.
The first bill sets aside more than $1.6 billion from the state's general fund to pay for the rebates and to reimburse NJ Transit.
It's currently in the assembly transportation and independent authorities committee.
Neither bill is scheduled to be voted on yet.
