🚗⛽ Pain at the Pump? Thank Tax-Raiser Nellie Pou.

New Jersey’s gas tax went up again yesterday, jumping nearly 9% and bringing the tax total to nearly 50 cents for a gallon of gasoline and over 56 cents for diesel.

And New Jerseyans have clueless Nellie Pou to thank for the hike.

In 2024, Pou voted to raise New Jersey’s gas tax every year for five years, despite the fact that New Jersey already had the seventh-highest gas tax in the nation at the time.

This isn’t the only time Pou’s voted to hike costs. She repeatedlyvoted to raise taxes on her own constituents by a whopping 21% and against ending taxes on tips and quadrupling the SALT deduction.

“Clueless Democrat Nellie Pou has repeatedly stabbed her own constituents in the back, voting again and again to drive up costs and make everyday life more difficult. New Jerseyans are paying the price for her reckless record, and voters will send a clear message in November: Nellie Pou can’t be trusted.” — NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole

Read the full story here or see excerpts below:

NJ drivers hit with 9% state gas tax hike to kick off new year
New York Post
Ryan King
December 31, 2025

New Jersey drivers are about to get hit with a nearly 9% hike in the state’s gas tax — leaving them once again grappling with one of the highest rates in the country.

Thanks to legislation signed into law in 2024, the state — the only one in the nation to not allow self-service pumps — is raising its gas tax by 4.2 cents to 49.1 cents for gasoline and 56.1 cents for diesel Jan. 1.

[…]

Gas prices have been trending down across the country in recent weeks, dropping to pre-pandemic levels for the first time in about five years.

New Jersey’s increase is the result of legislation that outgoing Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed in 2024 to jack up the tax in annual increments between 2025 and 2029.

One of the backers of that bill is Rep. Nellie Pou (D-NJ), who was in the state Senate at the time and is now in the US House.

[…]

Pou’s camp did not respond to a Post request for comment.

Initially, the gas tax was supposed to go up by around 2 cents. It previously jumped up by 2.6 cents in 2025. But “because actual consumption has trended below last fiscal year’s levels,” the Garden State is getting a large spike in its gas tax this year to make up for the money difference.

The funds will go to help raise about $11 billion over a five-year stretch for key infrastructure projects for roads and bridges.

Stevens noted how the libertarian-leaning Reason Foundation ranked New Jersey 39th in terms of overall capital and bridge expenditures.

“Since the state’s gas tax is so high, it looks like the problem really in the state isn’t so much the money coming in,” Stevens said. “They’re collecting tons of revenue from the high gas tax, but it’s how the money is being spent going out where New Jersey ranks so poorly.”