Bill > S3106

Introduced Session

This bill provides employers with various tax incentives for hiring and accommodating persons with disabilities under the insurance premiums tax, the corporation business tax and the gross income tax. The bill makes the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services in the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development the lead agency in handling the determination of the potential members of the population who will qualify as the workers whose employment is the target of the bill. The bill directs the division to identify and certify persons seeking employment who have a "disability" as defined by the federal "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990." That is, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, and which disability constitutes an impediment to obtaining or maintaining employment or to transitioning from school to work. This certification can, if the job-seeker chooses, be taken on interviews for employment and shown to employers, and the certification later assists in employers applying for the credits allowed by the bill. The bill allows employers three credits. First, an employment credit. An employer is allowed a credit equal to 30 percent of up to the first $6,000 of the wages paid by the employer to the qualified employee with a disability during the first year of employment. That is, the employer of a qualified employee with a disability is allowed up to $1,800 in the first year of employment. The employer is also allowed a credit of 20 percent of up to the first $6,000 of the wages paid by the employer to the qualified employee with a disability during the second year of employment. That is, the employer is allowed up to $1,200 in the second year of employment. Second, the bill allows a transportation credit. The employer is allowed a credit equal to up to $600 of the transportation expenses that are incurred by the employer in the taxable period to enable each qualified employee with a disability to travel to and from work. Third, the bill allows an accommodation credit. This is a "piggy-back" of a federal credit for expenditures incurred to make a business accessible to individuals with disabilities. The bill allows an "eligible small business," that is a business with less than $1,000,000 in gross receipts, or if it has higher gross receipts with no more than 30 employees, to take a credit equal to 10 percent of expenditures for the taxable period in excess of $250 but not to exceed $10,250 to increase accessibility for individuals with disabilities, both employees and members of the public. This can include removal of architectural or communications barriers, methods for making aurally delivered materials available to the hearing impaired, methods for making visually delivered materials available to the visually impaired, special equipment or equipment modifications for individuals with disabilities, or similar investments. The bill allows employers, potentially, to take all three of the employment, transportation and accommodation credits. The employment credit allowed by this bill is not a credit for creating "new jobs," but applies to a hire in an existing position or in a newly created position, so, unlike the various "new jobs" credits offered by law (which forbid an employer from taking more than one credit for a single newly-created position) an employer may qualify for the employment credit under this bill and any other employment credit available.

Committee Categories

Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee (on 04/15/2024)

Official Document