That's because they turned it down[1]. New Jersey has decided that their strategy is going to be to dig their heels in and hope for a supportive administration, rather than plan for the next century of growth in the economic region that powers their state.
Most superfund sites of any state, decades of chemical industry and now pharma, and also peaches not really liking how north NJ is, mostly. Jersey's a wacky place, for sure, but believe me, the politics in New Jersey get even crazier than this due to boroughitis.
NJ needs to stop its commuter residents paying NY income tax, particularly those doing WFH more than half the year. They can boost NJT with that pile of money.
How do you propose they do that? NJ doesn't levy NY's taxes, NY does.
(To my understanding, NJ gives every resident an equivalent income tax credit for the taxes they pay in NY. Given that they can't stop NY from taxing its own employees, this would mean they'd effectively need to double income taxes for NJ residents.)
