CHRISTIE TRANSITION NEWS
Governor-Elect Christie named Essex County Prosecutor Paula T. Dow as his nominee for New Jersey Attorney General.

Christie previously announced former State Senator Richard Bagger, Chief of Staff; Jeff Chiesa, Chief Counsel; Bill Stepien, Deputy Chief of Staff; Kevin O’Dowd, Deputy Chief Counsel.

As Christie appoints additional cabinet members we will post them here.

TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND ISSUES $1.2 BILLION
The State is borrowing $1.2 billion for the Transportation Trust Fund to pay for highway and public transit projects.

The Corzine administration, after consulting with Governor-Elect Christie transition team, agreed to borrow the money to ensure continuity and meet the needs of ongoing projects. The borrowed money will fund previously approved projects through June 2010. The Trust Fund is expected to be depleted by mid-2011.

THE PORT AUTHORITY APPROVES $6.3 BILLION BUDGET
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey commissioners approved a $6.3 billion budget for 2010 that holds the line on bridge and tunnel tolls and PATH rail fares.

Major highlights of the Port Authority’s 2010 operating budget include:
-Continuing development of the World Trade Center site.
-Investing in the continued construction of the ARC Tunnel Project.
-Continuing investments in the PATH Modernization Program, including funds to continue to replace the 340-car fleet and to install a new signal system.
-Continuing the 50-foot channel-deepening program in the Port of New York and New Jersey.

VOTERS APPROVE $215.4 MILLION IN SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Voters in 11 out of 15 districts on December 8th approved school construction projects totaling $215.4 million, representing 90 percent of the proposed $237 million on the ballot. Nearly $68 million of the approved projects are eligible for state aid.

Districts in which the ballot questions were approved were Edgewater, Ridgewood, Bordentown, Mansfield Township, Berlin Township, Woodbine, Fairfield (in Cumberland County), Livingston, Quinton Township, Montgomery and Cranford.

For the entire year of 2009, voters in five special elections approved school construction projects in 48 of 66 districts (72.7 percent), one of the highest approval records in more than a decade.

FIRST TUNNELING CONTRACT AWARDED FOR TRANSIT TUNNEL
In an action to sustain momentum on the nation’s largest public transit project, the NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors approved the first major tunneling contract for the $8.7 billion ARC trans-Hudson rail tunnel.

The Board authorized a $583 million contract to a joint venture of Barnard of New Jersey and Judlau Contracting Inc. of College Point, N.Y. The firm leading the design for the contractor is Halcrow, Inc. The contract covers construction of one of three tunnel segments, a mile-long segment in Manhattan.

At the Board meeting, New Jersey Alliance for Action Executive Vice President Gerald T. Keenan commended the Board on its action and said “this is a day that will go down in history in the efforts to provide safe and efficient transportation services.”

NJ TRANSIT expects to receive bids for the Palisades Tunnel segment within weeks, to be followed by the third and final Hudson River Segment. The Manhattan contract will extend a distance of one mile from a shaft at 12th Avenue and 28th Street. Construction will begin early next year and is expected to continue through late 2013.

The project is being built by NJ TRANSIT in partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It is expected to generate 6,000 jobs annually in peak construction years and create 44,000 permanent jobs.

ALLIANCE APPEARS BEFORE CHRISTIE TRANSPORTATION TRANSITION SUBCOMMITTEE
Alliance for Action President Philip K. Beachem and Executive Vice President Gerald T. Keenan testified in front of Governor-Elect Chris Christie’s transportation transition team. The Alliance spoke about the urgent transportation issues facing New Jersey. Beachem told the committee that transportation is an issue of economic development.

Beachem said the ARC Tunnel project must be a key element in what he described as “make-or-break” time for investment in transportation infrastructure to lead New Jersey out of recession.

“Of all the issues confronted by a new Governor and Legislature, capital investments, especially in transportation, offer the quickest most effective ways to produce critically needed revenues to address the state’s budget crisis and unemployment problems” Beachem stated.

NEW JERSEY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS TO RECEIVE $20 MILLION
Competitive capital improvement grants totaling some $20 million were awarded by the Obama Administration in stimulus funds to community health care centers in Newark and Morris and Ocean Counties.

The Newark Community Health Care Center will receive about $6 million to revamp its North Ward facility. Other capital improvement projects to receive federal funds will be the Newark Department of Health and Human Services to rehabilitate its facility at University Avenue, the Zufall Health Center in Dover and Ocean Health Initiatives in Lakewood.

CONTRACT AWARDED FOR PROJECT AT NEWARK LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
The Port Authority awarded a $58.0 million contract to create a new mid-level domestic departure hall at Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal B.

The project will include new check-in counters, baggage handling systems and airline offices. It is part of the Port Authority $324.6 million plan to expand and modernize Terminal B.

NJ TRANSIT APPROVES $20 MILLION FOR SOUTH JERSEY PROGRAMS
NJ Transit has allocated more than $13 million for transportation projects in Southern New Jersey. The Board voted to provide up to $9 million for an environmental impact study for a proposed extension of a light rail line from Camden to Glassboro.

NJ Transit will join the Delaware River Port Authority to fund a $3 million bus loading facility in Camden across from the Walter Rand Transportation Center. The agency said it would also pay for studies to improvements to the Atlantic City rail line and possible expansion of bus service along the Route 42 and Route 55 corridors.

OBAMA ANNOUNCES NEW FAA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR
President Obama announced December 7 that he will nominate Michael P. Huerta to be Deputy Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency's second in command behind Administrator Randy Babbitt.  Huerta currently is chairman of the ITS America board of directors.  He also served on Obama's DOT transition team.  He served from 1993 until 1998 in two senior DOT positions under then-President Clinton, as both chief of staff to Secretary Rodney Slater and associate deputy transportation secretary during the tenure of Secretary Federico Pena.  Huerta owns a consulting firm that specializes in transportation policy, technology, and financing.

“JOBS” BILL FUNDING FOR INFRASTRUCTURE
The latest Administration proposal for a “jobs” bill announced last week in a speech by President Obama recommends significant funding for a broad range of infrastructure programs to include highways and transit, as well as airport, rail and water/sewer projects.  The speech was very short on specifics, but sources estimate as much as $50B may be recommended for these infrastructure programs.  Instead of being allocated through the SAFETEA-LU formula programs, some portion of the transportation funds would be allocated through merit-based programs similar to the ARRA TIGER program.  The most likely source of funding appears to be unspent TARP funds which several Republican leaders have already strongly criticized. 

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