The idea of leasing or selling the New Jersey Turnpike and/or the Garden State Parkway didn’t go over too well at a state legislative hearing on Thursday.

Assembly members from both sides of the aisle voiced skepticism about proposals to lease the toll roads to a private company for 75 years in exchange for what some estimate would be a $15 billion up-front payment.

State Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, told “Land Line Now” on XM Satellite Radio that the term being used for “privatize” in New Jersey is “monetize.”

To show their protest, Beck said she – as well as many other lawmakers – are wearing buttons that say, “Friends don’t let friends monetize.”

– By Reed Black, staff writer
reed_black@landlinemag.com