Increases PFRS accidental disability pension when disability is caused by weapon.

A1167

ASSEMBLY, No. 1167

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblyman Sampson,
Assemblywoman Rowan and Assemblyman Guardian

SYNOPSIS

���� Increases PFRS accidental disability pension when
disability is caused by weapon.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning the accidental disability pension in
the Police and Firemen�s Retirement System and amending P.L.1944, c.255.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 7 of P.L.1944,
c.255 (C.43:16A-7) is amended to read as follows:

���� 7.��� a.� (1)� Upon the
written application by a member in service, by one acting in his behalf or by
his employer any member may be retired on an accidental disability retirement
allowance; provided, that the medical board, after a medical examination of
such member, shall certify that the member is permanently and totally disabled
as a direct result of a traumatic event occurring during and as a result of the
performance of his regular or assigned duties and that such disability was not
the result of the member's willful negligence and that such member is mentally
or physically incapacitated for the performance of his usual duty and of any
other available duty in the department which his employer is willing to assign
to him.� The application to accomplish such retirement must be filed within
five years of the original traumatic event, but the board of trustees may
consider an application filed after the five-year period if it can be factually
demonstrated to the satisfaction of the board of trustees that the disability
is due to the accident and the filing was not accomplished within the five-year
period due to a delayed manifestation of the disability or to other
circumstances beyond the control of the member.

���� (2)�� Upon retirement for
accidental disability, a member shall receive an accidental disability
retirement allowance which shall consist of:

���� (a)�� An annuity which shall
be the actuarial equivalent of his aggregate contributions and

���� (b)�� A pension in the amount
which, when added to the member's annuity, will provide a total retirement
allowance of 2/3 of the member's actual annual compensation for which
contributions were being made at the time of the occurrence of the accident or
at the time of the member's retirement, whichever provides the largest possible
benefit to the member
, or when the disability is caused by a weapon, 100
percent of the member's actual annual compensation for which contributions were
being made at the time of the occurrence of the accident or at the time of the
member's retirement or of the adjusted final compensation, whichever provides
the largest possible benefit to the member.� When the member attains mandatory
retirement age, the pension thereafter shall be 80 percent of the adjusted
final compensation.� Any enhanced pension benefits payable under P.L.��� ,
c.��� (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall apply to the benefits
received by any member who has retired with an accidental disability retirement
allowance on or before the effective date of P.L.��� , c.��� (pending before
the Legislature as this bill) or who will retire with an accidental disability
retirement allowance on or after the effective date of
P.L. , c. (pending before
the Legislature as this bill).� Any applications or appeals, or both, for these
enhanced pension benefits shall be submitted to the Police and Firemen�s
Retirement System board of trustees in the same manner as other applications
and appeals pursuant to section 13 of P.L.1944, c.255 (C.43:16A-13)
.

����
As used in this paragraph,
�weapon� shall have the same meaning as in N.J.S. 2C:39-1; and

����
�adjusted final
compensation� means the amount of final compensation or final compensation as
adjusted, as the case may be, increased by the same percentage increase which
is applied in any adjustments of the compensation schedule of active members
after the member's retirement and before the date on which the retired member
would have attained the age 65 years under an assumption of continuous service,
at which time the amount resulting from such increases shall become fixed and 80
percent of that amount shall be the basis for adjustments, if any, pursuant to
the �Pension Adjustment Act,� P.L.1958, c.143 (C.43:3B-1 et seq.).� Any
adjustments to final compensation or adjusted final compensation shall take
effect at the same time as any adjustments in the compensation schedule of
active members.� The provisions of the �Pension Adjustment Act� shall not apply
to any pension based upon adjusted final compensation other than the fixed
pension in effect when the member attains the age of 65 years.

���� (3)�� Upon receipt of proper
proofs of the death of a member who has retired on accidental disability
retirement allowance, there shall be paid to such member's beneficiary, an
amount equal to 3 1/2 times the compensation upon which contributions by the
member to the annuity savings fund were based in the last year of creditable
service; provided, however, that if such death shall occur after the member
shall have attained 55 years of age the amount payable shall equal 1/2 of such
compensation instead of 3 1/2 times such compensation.

���� (4)�� Permanent and total
disability resulting from a cardiovascular, pulmonary or musculoskeletal
condition which was not a direct result of a traumatic event occurring in the
performance of duty shall be deemed an ordinary disability.

���� b.��� (1)� For purposes of
this subsection:

���� "Qualifying condition or
impairment of health" includes:

���� diseases of the upper
respiratory tract and mucosae, including conditions such as conjunctivitis,
rhinitis, sinusitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, vocal cord disease, upper airway
hyper-reactivity and tracheo-bronchitis, or a combination of such conditions;

���� diseases of the lower
respiratory tract, including but not limited to bronchitis, asthma, reactive
airway dysfunction syndrome, and different types of pneumonitis, such as
hypersensitivity, granulomatous, or eosinophilic;

���� diseases of the
gastroesophageal tract, including esophagitis and reflux disease, either acute
or chronic, caused by exposure or aggravated by exposure;

���� diseases of the psychological
axis, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, or any
combination of such conditions;

���� diseases of the skin such as
contact dermatitis or burns, either acute or chronic in nature, infectious,
irritant, allergic, idiopathic or non-specific reactive in nature, caused by
exposure or aggravated by exposure; and

���� new onset diseases resulting
from exposure as such diseases occurring in the future including cancer,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asbestos-related disease, heavy metal
poisoning, musculoskeletal disease and chronic psychological disease.

���� "World Trade Center
rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations" means the rescue, recovery, or
cleanup operations at the World Trade Center site between September 11, 2001
and October 11, 2001.

���� "World Trade Center
site" means any location below a line starting from the Hudson River and
Canal Street, east on Canal Street to Pike Street, south on Pike Street to the
East River, and extending to the lower tip of Manhattan.

���� (2)�� Notwithstanding any
provision of subsection a. of this section or any other law to the contrary,
for a member who participated, whether or not under orders or instruction by an
employer to so participate, in World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup
operations for a minimum of eight hours, permanent and total disability
resulting from a qualifying condition or impairment of health shall be presumed
to have occurred during and as a result of the performance of the member's
regular or assigned duties and not the result of the member's willful
negligence, unless the contrary can be proved by competent evidence.

���� A member who did not
participate in such operations for a minimum of eight hours shall be eligible
for the presumption provided that:

���� the member participated in the
rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations at the World Trade Center site between
September 11, 2001 and September 12, 2001;

���� the member sustained a
documented physical injury at the World Trade Center site between September 11,
2001 and September 12, 2001 that is a qualifying condition or impairment of
health resulting in a disability to the member that prevented the member from
continuing to participate in World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup
operations for a minimum of eight hours; and

���� the documented physical injury
that resulted in a disability to the member that prevented the member from
continuing to participate in World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup
operations for a minimum of eight hours is the qualifying condition or impairment
of health for which the member seeks a presumption under this subsection.

���� In order to be eligible for
the presumption provided under this subsection, a member shall have
successfully passed a physical examination for entry into public service which
failed to disclose evidence of the qualifying condition or impairment of health
that formed the basis for the permanent and total disability.

���� (3)�� A member who
participated in the World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations
for a minimum of eight hours and subsequently retired on a service retirement
or an ordinary disability retirement and thereafter incurred a disability
caused by a qualifying condition or impairment of health which the medical
board determines to be caused by participation in World Trade Center rescue,
recovery, or cleanup operations shall be eligible to apply to the board of
trustees to have the retiree's retirement allowance recalculated as an
accidental disability retirement allowance for benefit payments on or after the
date of the application, provided the retiree filed an application for such
recalculation within 30 days of the date that the retiree knew or should have
known of the existence of such disability and its relation to the rescue,
recovery, or cleanup operations. In order to be eligible for such
recalculation, the retiree shall have successfully passed a physical
examination for entry into public service which failed to disclose evidence of
the qualifying condition or impairment of health that formed the basis for the
disability.

���� (4)�� The board of trustees
shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of
this subsection and shall notify members and retirants in the retirement system
of the enactment of this act, P.L.2019, c.157, within 30 days of enactment.

���� A member or retiree shall not
be eligible for the presumption or recalculation under this subsection unless
within two years of the effective date of this act, P.L.2019, c.157, the member
or retiree files a written and sworn statement with the retirement system on a
form provided by the board of trustees thereof indicating the dates and
locations of service.

���� (5)�� This subsection shall
apply regardless of whether the member or retiree, who is otherwise eligible,
was enrolled in the retirement system at the time of participation in World
Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations as specified herein.

(cf: P.L.2019, c.157, s.2)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill increases the
accidental disability pension provided in the Police and Firemen�s Retirement
System (PFRS) when the disability is caused by a weapon.

���� If a PFRS member is injured in
the line of duty by a weapon and permanently disabled, the pension for the
retiree will increase from 66 percent of final compensation to 100 percent of
final compensation.� When the retiree attains mandatory retirement age, the
pension thereafter will be 80 percent of the final compensation.

���� In addition, the final
compensation used to determine the accidental disability pension will continue
to increase until the member would have attained the age of 65 under the
assumption of continuous service.� The final compensation will increase by the
same percentage increase which is applied in any adjustments of the
compensation schedule of active members after the member's retirement but
before the date on which the retired member would have attained the age of 65.