Bill Text: NJ SR81 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Respectfully urges President Trump to promptly restore federal funding to Gateway Tunnel Project.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-03-05 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Transportation Committee [SR81 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-SR81-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Respectfully urges President Trump to promptly restore federal funding to Gateway Tunnel Project.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution respectfully urging President Donald J. Trump to promptly restore federal funding to the Gateway Tunnel Project.
Whereas, The Gateway Program is a series of rail infrastructure projects aimed at remediating and expanding the capacity of passenger trains along the busiest, most congested 10-mile section of the Northeast Corridor; and
Whereas, The Gateway Program's Hudson Tunnel Project, commonly known as the Gateway Tunnel Project, has received approximately $12 billion in federal grants and $4 billion in federal loans to repair a rapidly-deteriorating, 116-year-old tunnel, which serves roughly 200,000 passenger trips each day in an area that produces 10 percent of the county's economic output, and to construct a new tunnel to facilitate commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan; and
Whereas, Construction of the Gateway Tunnel Project is anticipated to generate approximately 95,000 jobs and $19.6 billion in economic activity; and
Whereas, The federal government pledged to contribute nearly three-fourths of the estimated cost of the Gateway Tunnel Project, and construction on the project has been underway for over two years with target completion dates of 2035 for the new tunnel and 2038 for remediation of the aging tunnel; and
Whereas, In October 2025, President Donald J. Trump announced that the Gateway Tunnel Project was terminated, and the United States Department of Transportation (department) froze all federal funding for the project; and
Whereas, While a $500 million line of credit enabled the Gateway Development Commission (commission), the lead agency responsible for constructing and facilitating the Gateway Tunnel Project, to continue construction on the project, the commission's available funding sources and credit are nearly depleted; and
Whereas, On February 2, 2026, the commission filed a complaint in federal district court alleging the department breached its contractual obligations by withholding over $205 million in federal funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project without a legitimate legal basis and an Order to Show Cause seeking emergent relief to lift the department's funding freeze; and
Whereas, On February 6, 2026, a federal judge ordered the department to restore the funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project but subsequently issued a temporary stay of that order to allow the department time to file an appeal, which is now pending; and
Whereas, With enforcement of the February 6, 2026 order stayed and the department's appeal pending, all work on the Gateway Tunnel Project is at a standstill, forcing layoffs of approximately 1,000 union laborers and leaving active construction sites unfinished with gaping holes in the ground; and
Whereas, An extended delay to construction on the Gateway Tunnel Project will increase the likelihood of the aging tunnel being shut down, jeopardize thousands of additional jobs, risk billions in anticipated economic benefits, and imperil the future and viability of the project; and
Whereas, Prompt action is necessary to restore federal funding to the Gateway Tunnel Project to remediate aging rail infrastructure, promote the safety of countless daily commuters traveling between New York and New Jersey, and prevent significant disruptions in public transit that would have deleterious impacts on the local and national economy; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the President of the United States.
STATEMENT
This resolution respectfully urges President Donald J. Trump to promptly restore federal funding to the Gateway Tunnel Project.
The Gateway Program is a series of rail infrastructure projects aimed at remediating and expanding the capacity of passenger trains along the busiest, most congested 10-mile section of the Northeast Corridor. The Gateway Program's Hudson Tunnel Project, commonly known as the Gateway Tunnel Project, has received approximately $12 billion in federal grants and $4 billion in federal loans to repair a rapidly-deteriorating, 116-year-old tunnel and to construct a new tunnel to facilitate commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan.
The federal government pledged to contribute nearly three-fourths of the costs of the Gateway Tunnel Project, and construction on the project has been underway for more than two years. However, in October 2025, President Donald J. Trump announced that the Gateway Tunnel Project was terminated and all federal funds to the project were frozen. Without the federally-committed funds, the Gateway Development Commission relied primarily on a $500 million line of credit to continue construction on the project, but the available project funds are nearly depleted.
On February 2, 2026, the commission filed a complaint in federal district court alleging the United States Department of Transportation (department) breached its contractual obligations by withholding federal funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project without a legitimate legal basis and an Order to Show Cause seeking emergent relief to lift the department's funding freeze. On February 6, 2026, a federal judge ordered the department to restore the funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project but subsequently issued a temporary stay of that order to allow the department time to file an appeal, which is now pending.
With enforcement of the February 6, 2026 order stayed and the department's appeal pending, all work on the Gateway Tunnel Project is at a standstill, forcing layoffs of approximately 1,000 union laborers and leaving active construction sites unfinished with gaping holes in the ground. An extended delay to construction on the Gateway Tunnel Project will increase the likelihood of the aging tunnel being shut down, jeopardize thousands of additional jobs, risk billions in anticipated economic benefits, and imperil the future and viability of the project.
Prompt action is necessary to restore federal funding to the Gateway Tunnel Project to remediate aging rail infrastructure, promote the safety of countless daily commuters traveling between New York and New Jersey, and prevent significant disruptions in public transit that would have deleterious impacts on the local and national economy. Therefore, this House respectfully urges President Donald J. Trump to promptly restore federal funding to the Gateway Tunnel Project.
