New Jersey lawmakers say they're very close to passing a 23-cent gas-tax hike and overriding a likely veto from Gov. Chris Christie.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney says he's just one vote shy from lining up enough Senate lawmakers to override Christie's opposition to the gas-tax and road funding tax package. Democrats have 24 of 40 Senate seats and need 27 votes to override the governor. The situation is unclear in the Assembly, where Democrats hold 51 seats and need 54 for an override.

"I have enough Republicans," Sweeney told NJ Advance Media. "I don't have enough Democrats." One of those lawmakers is Sen. Shirley Turner, a Democrat in Mercer, who joined Christie in rejecting a new plan approved by leading Democratic lawmakers that would raise the gas tax by 23 cents.

"I think that 23 cents is too much for the working households to absorb at one time," Turner told NJ Advance Media. "I'm also concerned about the $900 million that we will be losing in revenue [in tax cuts]. I don't know how we're going to make that up. It does not sound responsible if we can't pay our bills now." New Jersey lawmakers last month said they had agreed to a new 23-cent gas tax hike plan that wouldn't include a sales tax cut, as Christie wanted, but would phase out the estate tax.

Senate and Assembly leaders say the dedicated revenue would generate $1.2 billion annually, which would support $2 billion in infrastructure investments each year and replenish the Transportation Trust Fund that was supposed to run empty by August. They also hoped to restart projects that were effectively shut down by Christie in July when Senate lawmakers passed on his own 23-cent-per-gallon gas tax hike plan. Christie reached an agreement with Assembly leaders to cut the sales tax by 1 percent. Read more: $3.5B In N.J. Road Projects To Shut Down Friday: See The List Here "The governor's demand for $1.9 billion in tax cuts would blow a huge hole in the state budget that would make it impossible to pay for the services and programs that are so important to so many people in New Jersey," said Sen. Sandra Cunningham, a Democrat in Hudson.