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A1727
ASSEMBLY, No. 1727
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman CARMEN THERESA MORALES
District 34 (Essex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Bagolie, Assemblymen Danielsen, DeAngelo,
Karabinchak, Assemblywomen Lopez, Tucker, Assemblymen Stanley, G.Rodriguez,
Assemblywomen Flynn, Donlon, Peterpaul, Assemblymen Freiman, McClellan,
Simonsen, Assemblywoman Swain, Assemblymen Tully, Singh, Miller, Sampson,
Abdelaziz, Assemblywomen Haider, Collazos-Gill, McCoy, Simmons, Drulis,
Assemblymen Guardian, Stewart, Angelozzi and Assemblywoman Brennan
SYNOPSIS
���� Provides TPAF members and certain retirees same
benefits provided to members enrolled in retirement system before July 1, 2007.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning the benefits provided to members and certain
retirees of the
Teachers� Pension and Annuity Fund
and supplementing
N.J.S.18A:66-1 et seq.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1. a.� Notwithstanding the provisions of
P.L.2007, c.92; P.L.2007, c.103; P.L.2008, c.89; P.L.2010, c.1; P.L.2010, c.3;
P.L.2011, c.78; or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, all
current, non-retired members of the
Teachers� Pension and Annuity
Fund
shall be entitled
to and shall receive the same benefits received by members of the retirement
system who enrolled in the system prior to July 1, 2007.� Notwithstanding the
provisions of any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a member of
the
Teachers� Pension and Annuity Fund
who files an application for
retirement after the effective date of this act,
P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), shall be entitled to and shall
receive the same retirement benefits received by members of the retirement
system who enrolled in the system prior to July 1, 2007.
���� b.� Notwithstanding the provisions of any other
law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, all employees of public employers who
earn more than the minimum salary requirements but do not meet the minimum work
hours eligibility requirements on the effective date of
this act, P.L.�� , c.��
(C.�� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), pursuant
N.J.S.18A:66-1
et seq.
shall
be enrolled as members of the
Teachers� Pension and Annuity Fund
in accordance with
the provisions of subsection a. of this section.� The employer shall promptly
process the compulsory enrollment of each affected employee no later than 60
days following the effective date of this act, P.L.��� , c.���� (C.������� )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).
���� c. (1) Employees who are enrolled as
participants of the Defined Contribution Retirement Program established
pursuant to P.L.2007, c.92 (C.43:15C-1 et seq.) on the effective date of this
act, P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), shall be enrolled in the
Teachers�
Pension and Annuity Fund
pursuant to the provisions of subsection a. of this
section, unless they opt out pursuant to this subsection.� Upon enrollment, the
employee shall receive an automatic transfer of all years of service credit
from the Defined Contribution Retirement Program to the
Teachers�
Pension and Annuity Fund
.�
Any years of service credit
transferred to the
Teachers� Pension and Annuity Fund
from the Defined
Contribution Retirement Program pursuant to this subsection shall be used to qualify
the member for deferred retirement, early retirement,
service retirement, disability retirement, veteran�s retirement, health
benefits enumerated under the School Employees� Health Benefits Program, and
other benefits as determined to be appropriate by the Division of Pensions and
Benefits; provided, however, that any years of service credit transferred to
the
Teachers� Pension and Annuity Fund
from the Defined
Contribution Retirement Program pursuant to this subsection shall not be used
to calculate the amount of the pension benefits the member would receive in
retirement as set forth by
N.J.S.18A:66-1 et seq
.
�A member�s prior
contributions into the Defined Contribution Retirement Program shall not be
transferred into the
Teachers� Pension and Annuity Fund
and shall remain in the program�s fund.
���� (2) Any employees enrolled as participants of
the Defined Contribution Retirement Program and whose years of service credit
are transferred to the
Teachers� Pension and Annuity Fund
pursuant to paragraph (1) of
this subsection shall receive a notice of the automatic transfer of service
credit no later than 60 days following the effective date of this act, P.L.���
, c.���� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
���� (3) Any employees enrolled as participants of
the Defined Contribution Retirement Program who do not wish to become enrolled
as a member of the
Teachers� Pension and Annuity Fund
pursuant to this subsection
shall be permitted to opt out of joining the
Teachers� Pension
and Annuity Fund
by
providing a notice to their employer no later than six months of receiving the
notice outlined in paragraph (2) of this subsection.� Any employees who opt out
shall remain participants of the Defined Contribution Retirement Program.
���� d.� Notwithstanding the provisions of any other
law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, any members of the
Teachers�
Pension and Annuity Fund
receiving long term disability insurance pursuant to section 10 of P.L.2010,
c.3 (C.18A:66-39.1), shall be considered eligible to apply for an ordinary or
accidental disability retirement allowance pursuant to N.J.S.18A:66-1 et seq.�
If the member elects to apply for disability retirement benefits under the
Teachers�
Pension and Annuity Fund
the member shall do so no later than two calendar
years following the effective date of this act,
P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).
���� e.� Any changes to the early retirement,
deferred retirement, service retirement, and maximum base salary resulting from
the provisions of this act shall only apply to members who begin processing a
retirement application after the effective date of this act, P.L.��� , c.����
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).�
���� 2.� This act shall take effect
immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill removes the
membership tiers established in the Teachers� Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF)
and transfers all current non-retired members of TPAF to the membership tier
referred to as �Tier 1� by the Division of Pensions and Benefits.� All transferred
members will be considered eligible for any benefits associated with Tier 1.
���� Under the bill, employees of
public employers who earn more than the minimum salary requirement, but do not
currently meet the minimum hour eligibility requirements, will be considered
eligible to be enrolled as members of TPAF.� The employer is to process the
compulsory enrollment of each affected employee within two months following the
enactment of the bill.
���� Any affected employees who are
currently enrolled as participants of the Defined Contribution Retirement
Program (DCRP) will be eligible for an automatic transfer of all years of
service credit to TPAF, if the employee elects to transfer their membership
from DCRP to TPAF.� Any years of service credit transferred to TPAF from DCRP
will be used to qualify members for retirement and health benefits associated
with TPAF, but will not be used to calculate the amount of pension benefit.� A
participant�s prior contributions into the DCRP will not be transferred into
TPAF and will remain in the fund.� The employee will receive a notice of the
transfer of service credit to TPAF within two months following the enactment of
the bill.� Upon receiving the notice, the affected employee has six months to
notify their employer if they do not wish to become enrolled as a member and
transfer their service credit to TPAF.� Employees in the DCRP who opt out of
the transfer will remain in the DCRP. Additionally, any members of TPAF who
are receiving long term disability insurance will be eligible to apply for
disability retirement as long as they apply within two calendar years following
the enactment of the bill.
���� Any changes to the early
retirement, deferred retirement, service retirement, and maximum base salary
resulting from the transfer of members to Tier 1 of TPAF will only affect
members who begin processing a retirement application after the bill is enacted.