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A1073
ASSEMBLY, No. 1073
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman� MICHAEL VENEZIA
District 34 (Essex)
Assemblywoman� LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
Assemblyman� WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen E.Rodriguez, Bailey and Assemblywoman Sweeney
SYNOPSIS
���� Establishes Emergency Services part of PERS; provides
enhanced benefits for emergency services employees.
�
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning retirement and death benefits for emergency
services employees and supplementing P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-1 et seq.).
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� As used in this act,
P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
���� �Beneficiary� means any person
entitled to receive any benefit pursuant to the provisions of this act by
reason of the death of a member or retirant of the Emergency Services Part.
���� �Emergency services employee�
means any permanent and full-time employee serving in one of the following
positions: emergency medical technician; paramedic; emergency medical services
hazardous materials responder technician; public safety telecommunicator,
dispatcher, 911 operator or instructor; fire inspector and fire official;
county fire marshal and assistant fire marshal not authorized to enroll in the
Police and Firemen�s Retirement System of New Jersey in accordance with section
1 of P.L.1971, c.197 (C.40A:14-1 et seq.); or any position the primary or
essential duties of which require the employee to be trained in basic or
advanced life support services, as defined in section 1 of P.L.1984, c.146
(C.26:2K-7) or section 1 of P.L.1985, c.351 (C.26:2K-21), and who holds an
active certification or license by the Department of Health to perform these
services. �The term shall also mean any permanent and full-time fireman
employed by the State, or any county, fire district, joint meeting, regional
service agency or municipality, political subdivision, instrumentality or
agency thereof who does not meet the age or medical requirements for entry into
the Police and Firemen�s Retirement System of New Jersey.
���� �Final compensation� means the
average annual compensation for which contributions are made for the three
years of creditable service in New Jersey immediately preceding the member's
retirement or death, or it shall mean the average annual compensation for New
Jersey service for which contributions are made during any three fiscal years
of membership providing the largest possible benefit to the member or the
member's beneficiary.
���� �Retirant� means any former
member of the Emergency Services Part receiving a pension or retirement
allowance as provided by P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill).
���� �Veteran� means the same as
that term is defined in section 6 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-6).
���� 2. a.� Notwithstanding the
provisions of any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, an emergency
services employee who is employed on the effective date of P.L.��� , c.���
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and who is enrolled
in the Public Employees� Retirement System, established pursuant to P.L.1954,
c.84 (C.43:15A-1 et seq.), before the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill) shall be enrolled in the Emergency
Services Part of the system, established by P.L.��� , c.���� (C.������� )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), within 120 days of that
effective date. �The Division of Pensions and Benefits in the Department of the
Treasury in conjunction with the board of trustees of the Public Employees�
Retirement System shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement
the provisions of this subsection and shall notify all members and retirants of
the retirement system of the provisions of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), by letter sent via certified
mail and by individual electronic correspondence within 30 days of enactment.�
An emergency services employee may elect to not be enrolled in the Emergency
Services Part by filing a waiver with the division within 60 days of receiving correspondence
from the board of trustees.� A member who signs the waiver shall remain
enrolled in the retirement system as a non-emergency services employee and
shall not be subject to compulsory retirement as provided in section 4 of P.L.���
, c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).� Any member
who is enrolled in the Emergency Services Part of the system in accordance with
this section shall be eligible for the rights and benefits and subject to the requirements
set forth in P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill) upon enrollment. �All service
credit in the retirement system earned in a title eligible for enrollment in
the Emergency Services Part shall be considered service credit in the Emergency
Services Part upon enrollment.
���� b. �Notwithstanding the
provisions of any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, an emergency
services employee enrolled in the retirement system after the effective date of
P.L.�� , c.��� (C.�� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be enrolled
as a member of the Emergency Services Part as a condition of employment.
���� c. �Notwithstanding the
provisions of any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, an emergency
services employee who becomes a member of the Emergency Services Part of the
retirement system after the effective date of P.L.2010, c.3 shall also be
eligible for retirement and death benefits as provided by P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill).
���� d.� Members of the Emergency
Services Part of the retirement system shall be eligible for retirement, death,
and other benefits, and credits as provided in P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-1 et
seq.) not in conflict with retirement, death, and other benefits, and credits
provided by P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as
this bill).
���� e. �All outstanding
obligations, such as loans, purchases and other arrearage, shall be satisfied
by the member as previously scheduled for payment to the Public Employees'
Retirement System.
���� 3. a.� Notwithstanding the
provisions of section 25 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-25) to the contrary, a
separate account shall be established in the annuity savings fund for each
member of the Emergency Services Part and all contributions based on the
member�s salary shall be credited to this account.
���� b. �The percentage
contribution rate of each member of the Emergency Services Part shall be fixed
as provided by section 25 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-25).
���� c.� An eligible member of the
Emergency Services Part who is enrolled in the retirement system on the basis
of other public service before, during, or after service as an emergency
services employee shall contribute for such other service at the rate of contribution
required of other members as provided by section 25 of P.L.1954, c.84
(C.43:15A-25).
���� 4. �A member of the Emergency
Services Part who has attained the age of 55 and who immediately prior to
retirement has 20 years of creditable service as an emergency services
employee, shall be eligible for service retirement as an emergency services
employee. �Any member in service who is an emergency services employee at the
time of attaining age 65 years shall be retired on a service retirement
allowance forthwith or on the first day of the next calendar month, as is
determined by the board of trustees of the Public Employees� Retirement System;
provided, however, any emergency services employee who is a veteran shall not
be retired at age 65 years if the member does not have 20 years of service in
office, position, or employment of this State, or of any county, fire district,
joint meeting, regional service agency or municipality, political subdivision,
instrumentality or agency thereof, but such veteran member shall be retired
upon the completion of such 20 years of service or upon attaining age 70 years,
whichever is earlier.
���� 5.� Upon service retirement as
a member of the Emergency Services Part, a member shall receive a service
retirement allowance consisting of:
���� a.� An annuity which shall be
the actuarial equivalent of the member�s accumulated deductions together with
regular interest; and
���� b.� A pension in the amount
which, when added to the member's annuity, will provide a total retirement
allowance equal to two percent of the member�s final compensation multiplied by
the member�s number of years of service credit as an emergency services
employee for which the member made contributions up to 25, plus the amount
determined as provided in section 48 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-48) for years
of service credit other than service as an emergency services employee, for
which the member has made contributions, plus one percent of the member�s final
compensation multiplied by the member�s number of years of service credit as an
emergency services employee for which the member has made contributions over 25
or for which the member has made no contributions to the retirement system for
the period while the member was an emergency services employee or, in the case
of a veteran, while the member was in office, position or employment of this
State, or of any county, fire district, joint meeting, regional service agency
or municipality, political subdivision, instrumentality or agency thereof;
provided, however, that in the case of any member electing to receive benefits
under subsection b. of section 38 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-38), such
benefits shall be payable at age 60.
���� c. The death benefit provided
in subsection c. of section 48 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-48), shall apply in
the case of any member retiring under the provisions of this section.
���� 6. a. �Should a member of the
Emergency Services Part who has attained the age of 55 retire after having
established 25 years of creditable service, the member shall receive, in
addition to the service retirement allowance provided in section 4 of P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), a supplementary �special�
retirement allowance equal to five percent of the member's final compensation
or such lesser amount as will, if added to the member's service retirement
allowance, provide a total retirement allowance of 70 percent of the member's
final compensation.
���� b.� The supplementary
�special� retirement allowance provided under subsection a. of this section
shall be payable to any former member of the retirement system who, prior to
the effective date of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill), retired as an emergency services employee as a member
of the retirement system after having established 25 years of creditable
service. �The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed either to
require a reduction in the retirement allowance payable to any retirant or to
provide for the payment of any adjustment in such an allowance with respect to
any period of time prior to the first day of the month following that effective
date.
���� 7. a. �A member of the
Emergency Services Part after having established 25 years of creditable service
before reaching age 55 may elect �early retirement,� with a retirement
allowance calculated in accordance with section 48 of P.L.1954, c.84
(C.43:15A-48) and reduced as set forth in section 41 of P.L.1954, c.84
(C.43:15A-41).
���� b.� A member who has 10 or
more years of creditable service as an emergency services employee who cannot
qualify for service retirement as an emergency services employee having
separated from service before reaching retirement age and not due to removal
for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency, shall receive upon
retirement beginning at the retirement age, a retirement allowance as set forth
in P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), except
that for each year of creditable service as an emergency services employee the
member shall receive, instead of the pension provided in subsection b. of section
48 of P.L.1954, c.84, (C.43:15A-48) a pension which, when added to the annuity,
will produce a retirement allowance equal to two percent of the member�s final
compensation multiplied by the member�s number of years of creditable service
as an emergency services employee for which the member has made contributions
up to 25, plus one percent of the member�s final compensation multiplied by the
member�s number of years of creditable service for which the member has made
contributions over 25 or for which the member has made no contributions to the
retirement system for the period while the member was an emergency services
employee.
���� 8.� Any member of the
Emergency Services Part who shall have been an emergency services employee for five
years immediately preceding the member�s retirement shall have full rights to,
and shall be subject to, the provisions governing ordinary disability
retirement as set forth in sections 42, 44 and 45 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-42,
C.43:15A-44, and C.43:15A-45, respectively).
���� 9. a.� A member of the
Emergency Services Part who shall have been an emergency services employee
under 65 years of age, or who is a veteran not having attained the age of 70,
upon retirement for accidental disability shall have full rights to, and shall
be subject to, the provisions governing accidental disability retirement as set
forth in section 3 of P.L.2020, c.54 (C.43:15A-43.1) and in sections 43 and 46 of
P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-43 and C.43:15A-46, respectively).
���� b.� Upon the receipt of proper
proof of the death of a member who at the time of retirement was an emergency
services employee and who has retired on an accidental disability retirement
allowance, there shall be paid to such person, if living, as the member shall
have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the board of
trustees of the Public Employees� Retirement System, otherwise to the executor
or administrator of the member's estate, the sum of $5,000 or the amount
payable pursuant to subsection c. of section 46 of �P.L.1954, c.84,
(C.43:15A-46), whichever is greater.
����
10.� An accidental death benefit shall be payable
upon the death of an active member of the Emergency Services Part subject to
the provisions governing accidental death benefits as set forth in section 49
of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-49).
���� 11.� The State shall not be
liable for any increased pension costs to a county, fire district, joint
meeting, regional service agency or municipality, political subdivision,
instrumentality or agency thereof as a result of the enrollment of an emergency
services employee in the Emergency Services Part established pursuant to P.L.���
, c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), of the
Public Employees' Retirement System, established pursuant to P.L.1954, c.84
(C.43:15A-1 et seq.).� The actuary for the Public Employees' Retirement System
shall determine the unfunded accrued liability for the Emergency Services Part
of the retirement system and the benefits provided for members under that part
in the same manner provided for the determination of the unfunded accrued
liability of the retirement system by section 24 of P.L.1954, c.84
(C.43:15A-24).� This unfunded accrued liability shall be amortized in the
manner provided by that section 24 over an amortization period of 30 years.
���� 12.� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill creates an Emergency
Services Part in the Public Employees� Retirement System (PERS) to provide
certain enhanced pension and death benefits equivalent to those provided to law
enforcement officers under the Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) Part of PERS,
including mandatory retirement due to age, to members who hold or held certain
emergency services titles.
���� Membership in the LEO Part of
PERS, and eligibility for the enhanced benefits it provides, is limited by law
to certain law enforcement officer titles and positions.
���� Under the bill, members of the
Emergency Services Part will include any permanent and full-time employee
serving in one of the following positions: emergency medical technician;
paramedic; emergency medical services hazardous materials responder technician;
public safety telecommunicator, dispatcher, 911 operator or instructor; fire
inspector and fire official; county fire marshal and assistant fire marshal not
authorized to enroll in the Police and Firemen�s Retirement System of New
Jersey; or any position the primary or essential duties of which require the
employee to be trained in basic or advanced life support services, who holds an
active certification or license by the Department of Health to perform these
services. �The term will also include any permanent and full-time fireman
employed by the State, or any county, fire district, joint meeting, regional
service agency or municipality, political subdivision, instrumentality or
agency thereof who does not meet the age or medical requirements for entry into
the Police and Firemen�s Retirement System of New Jersey.
���� The State will not be liable
for the increased pension costs payable by counties, fire districts, joint
meetings, regional service agencies or municipalities, political subdivisions,
instrumentalities or agencies thereof resulting from the creation of the
Emergency Services Part.
���� The bill provides that the unfunded
accrued liability established through the creation of the Emergency Services
Part is to be determined and amortized in the same manner as provided for the
retirement system under current law.
Establishes Emergency Services part
of PERS; provides enhanced benefits for emergency services employees.