Bill > A2018

Introduced Session

This bill establishes the First Responders COVID-19 Supplemental Benefits Program in the in the Division of Workers' Compensation. The bill provides supplemental benefits to first responders determined to be eligible for workers' compensation because they have contracted COVID-19 in the course of employment. The supplemental benefits are provided for the time in which an eligible first responder qualifies for regular workers' compensation equal to 70 percent of the weekly wages received at the time of injury subject to the stated minimum and maximum compensation levels. The supplemental benefits do not commence until all benefits which are equal to the responder's full salary have ended. The supplemental benefits are provided as long as the responder is unable to work due to COVID-19 but not more than 180 weeks. The amount of the supplemental benefit is such that the sum of the weekly regular workers' compensation plus the weekly supplemental benefit equals 100 percent of the responder's weekly wage, except that that sum shall not exceed $1,800. If the responder is a volunteer paid the maximum weekly workers' compensation rate, the supplemental benefits shall also be such that the sum of the weekly regular compensation plus the weekly supplemental benefit equals 100 percent of the responder's weekly wage up to the maximum of $1,800, except that for the volunteers the maximum workers' compensation rate shall continue to apply, even if it exceeds 100 percent of the weekly wage. The bill directs the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to issue annual reports of available information regarding the number of claims by first responders entitled to the supplemental benefits, the total amount of benefits awarded, the total anticipated and the accrued costs of the benefits, and an estimate of what portion of the funds appropriated for the program will be needed to pay all of the benefits, and a request to the Governor and the Legislature for any additional appropriation which may be required to make the payments. The supplemental benefits are not to be considered in determining the annual surcharge levied on policyholders and self-insured employers for the Second Injury Fund or the experience ratings of individual employers. The bill establishes the First Responders COVID-19 Supplemental Benefits Program Advisory Council in the Division of Workers' Compensation to advise the division and provide recommendations concerning the administration of the program. The council is comprised of the following 12 members: the Commissioners of Labor and Workforce Development, Human Services, and Health; one representative each selected by the New Jersey State Police Benevolent Association, Inc., the Fraternal Order of Police, the Professional Fire Fighters Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey State Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association, the EMS Council of New Jersey, and the New Jersey State Firemen's Association; and three public members appointed by the Governor with experience as first responders. The advisory council will be dissolved, and the annual reports by both the council and the commissioner will cease, upon a determination that that all eligible first responders have received all supplemental benefits to which they are entitled. The bill appropriates from the General Fund to the Second Injury Fund $20,000,000 for the First Responders COVID-19 Supplemental Benefits Program, to be used for the provision of the supplemental benefits and any necessary expenses of the advisory council. The purpose of this legislation is to assist first responders, whose public service has rendered them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, by alleviating long-term economic hardships due to COVID-19. The support provided by the bill is especially important in cases where first responders become unable to work for long periods of time because of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), persistent, long-term symptoms following recovery from acute COVID-19, colloquially known as "long COVID."

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Bill Spearman (D)*,  Shanique Speight (D)*,  Sterley Stanley (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document