Menendez pushes for restoration of full commuter tax credit

Beginning New Year’s Day, commuters will be getting a smaller tax break to use mass transit. One of New Jersey’s U.S. senators is pushing for full restoration of the benefit.

Senate Republicans refused to renew the maximum $245 monthly income deduction for commuters who use public transportation to travel to work.

Speaking at the Hoboken Terminal Friday, Sen. Bob Menendez said the drop to $130 a month beginning Jan. 1 means commuters will have to dig deeper at a time when wages are failing to keep up with rising costs.

“It makes sense to get people out of their cars and into mass transit,” he said. “It makes sense to be able to help middle-class families get a break while rewarding work and doing something good for the environment.”

Menendez intends to urge his colleagues in the Senate to extend the full amount of the mass transit tax deduction that can save a commuter about $1,000 a year.

Republicans want it to be part of a larger package that would restore some other tax breaks.