LEGISLATIVE REPORT
Looking ahead to
the fall session
The NJ State Legislature has been on recess
since the budget showdown was resolved at the
end of June. The Senate and Assembly will re-
sume committee activity in September. While
the NJ State PBA is tracking hundreds of bills
and working on a number of potential pieces of
legislation, there are many issues proceeding in
Trenton that are worth noting, including:
Assembly Bill 1851 (Lampitt): The bill caps
ROB NIXON
payments for unused sick leave for all state
and local government and school employees at
$7,500, under certain conditions after the effective date or ex-
piration of a contract. The PBA strongly opposed this bill when
considered in committee. Since then, there has been no move-
ment on this issue. The bill remains on second reading in the
Assembly. There has been no action on it in the Senate.
Senate Bill 785 (Sarlo): The bill requires the Police Training
Commission to develop accelerated training courses for certain
county corrections officers. The bill was introduced at the re-
quest of the State PBA to ensure opportunities for job transfers
through a uniform and fair process. The NJ Civil Service Com-
mission opposed the bill, but we have been working with Civil
Service and the attorney general’s office on potential changes to
address concerns. The bill is on second reading in the Senate.
Senate Bill 1739 (Van Drew): The bill renames county cor-
rections officers as county correctional police officers. The leg-
islation mirrors a law signed last session to rename State Cor-
rections officers as State Correctional Police Officers. The bill
unanimously passed the Senate and is awaiting consideration
by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee.
Class 3 Update: The PBA has identified potential changes to
the Class 3 Special Police Officer law following a review with
Local State Delegates of the implementation of the law. These
changes include expanding the list of officers to every PFRS-el-
igible law enforcement officer and members of bi-state law en-
forcement agencies, in addition to a few minor tweaks to the law.
“Economic and Fiscal Policy Working Group Report”: Sen-
ate President Sweeney recently released the recommendations
of the “Economic and Fiscal Policy Working Group” that he ap-
pointed. The group has recommended changes to public em-
ployee pension and health benefits. Though some are dramat-
ic, most of the recommendations have been suggested by prior
studies and legislators in the last several years. These include:
• Reducing the level of healthcare benefits that are provided
to public employees from “Platinum” to “Gold” levels.
• Increasing levels at which future retired employees pay for
health benefits.
• Capping sick and terminal leave amounts.
• While the Working Group proposes establishing a hybrid
pension system for public employees, it has excluded PFRS
from its recommendations due to the recent enactment of
the law signed to transfer control of PFRS from the state to
the PFRS Board of Trustees.
The State PBA is reviewing the full Working Group report and
will address the development of legislation stemming from it. A
detailed report will be made at the PBA convention in Septem-
ber. d
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ AUGUST 2018
New Jersey State PBA Endorsements
For the November 2018 General Election
Incumbent noted (I)
U.S House of Representatives
District 1
Donald Norcross (I), Democrat
District 2
Jeff Van Drew, Democrat
District 3
Tom MacArthur (I), Republican
District 4
Chris Smith (I), Republican
District 5
Josh Gottheimer (I), Democrat
District 6
Frank Pallone (I), Democrat
District 7
Leonard Lance (I), Republican
District 8
Albio Sires (I), Democrat
District 9
Bill Pascrell (I), Democrat
District 10
Donald Payne (I), Democrat
District 11
Mikie Sherrill, Democrat
District 12
None
New Jersey Legislature Special Elections
District 15
General Assembly
Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (I), Democrat
Anthony Verrelli (I), Democrat
District 32
General Assembly
Pedro Mejia (I), Democrat
District 34
Gener