WASHINGTON — During a grand presentation in the ornate rotunda of New York Penn Station last month, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was Santa Claus in a gray suit, handing out more than $2 billion for rail projects.

Nearly half a billion dollars was to go toward electrical upgrades on the Northeast Corridor between Trenton and New York City, bringing relief to beleaguered commuters on America’s busiest rail line.

Now that funding is threatened by a most unlikely source — a New Je...

Assembly Republican Deputy Conference Leader Scott Rumana, a member of the Governor’s Passaic River Flood Advisory Commission and Chairman of the Passaic River Basin Flood Task Force, called today’s announcement by the Christie administration that New Jersey will receive nearly $50 million in FEMA grants for flood protection projects welcome news, especially for homeowners in the flood-prone Passaic River Basin who will receive the lion’s share of the funds.

            “Having spent t...