News

Proposed Health Benefit Changes

Published June 29, 2011

Proposed Health Benefit Changes, S-2937/A-4133
S-2937/A-4133 will make various changes to pension and health care benefits for public employees. We anticipate that Governor Christie will sign this bill into law on Monday. This letter will detail the health benefit changes. You should have already received a separate letter detailing the pension system changes.
While the bill takes effect immediately, Section 81 of the bill permits a delayed implementation of the health care premium share for “necessary administrative actions for collection”. Further, such contributions cannot be applied retroactively. The four year phase in period will begin on the first day of collection.
The bill requires that all local government employers participate in a Section 125 plan.  This will allow employees to make the required premium payments for health care prior to the withholding of taxes. For more information on the Section 125 plan please visit http://www.irs.gov/govt/fslg/article/0,,id=112720,00.html#Faq.
All employees will be required to contribute a percentage of their health care premium or 1.5% of base salary, whichever is greater. The percentage will be based on the employee’s base salary on a sliding scale. The percentage will be phased-in over four year as follows:
1st year ? ¼ of the percentage
2nd year ? ½ of the percentage
3rd year ? ¾ of the percentage
4th year ? 4/4 of the percentage
At no time will an employee pay less than 1.5% of their salary for health benefits. But in no event will the employee be required to pay the percentage of the premium plus 1.5% of their salary.
The employee contribution, based on cost of coverage, is as follows:
http://www.njslom.org/pension-health/2011-0624-S-2937-A-4133.html

Proposed Pension Changes, S-2937/A-4133
S-2937/A-4133 will make various changes to pension and health care benefits for public employees. We anticipate that Governor Christie will sign this bill into law on Monday. This letter will detail the pension changes. A separate letter detailing the health benefit changes will be forthcoming.
The bill impacts Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS), Teachers’ Pension Annuity Fund (TPAF), State Police Retirement System (SPRS), Defined Contribution Retirement Program (DCRP), Alternate Benefit Program (ABP) and Judicial Retirement System (JRS). 
The bill increases the contribution rate for all employees as follows:
PERS employees will have an immediate 1% employee contribution from 5.5% to 6.5% and an additional 1% increase phased in over 7 years in equal amount.  In other words, the total increase will be 5.5% to 7.5% over an eight year period.
PFRS employees will have an immediate 1.5% employee contribution from 8.5% to 10%
The bill also prohibits the State and any other public employer from “skipping” its required pension payments by establishing a new contractual right to employees. If the State or other public employer does not make its payment, employees will be able to sue in Superior Court. The bill defines the annual required contribution as the amount equal to annual normal contribution plus annual unfunded accrued liability.
http://www.njslom.org/pension-health/2011-0624-pension-changes.html

Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that HUD will be investing an additional $67 million the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program.
HUD provided advance notice today that the second round of Regional Planning grants will soon be made available through a Notice of Funding Availability. The grants will be awarded competitively to multi-jurisdictional and multi-sector partnerships as well as regional consortia consisting of state and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), educational institutions, non-profit organizations and philanthropic organizations. This year’s funding was approved by Congress in HUD’s 2011 budget, as part of $100 million devoted to the agency’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities.
http://www.njslom.org/letters/2011-0624-sustainable.html

Governor Conditionally Vetoes S-2006/A-3125, Regulating Solar Panels
On Thursday, Governor Christie conditionally vetoed S-2006/A-3125, which would prohibit municipal zoning ordnances from regulating solar panels under certain circumstances and limit the fees on certain installations of renewable energy. The League opposed this bill as an unnecessary intrusion on local zoning discretion and welcomes the Governor’s action.
In his conditional veto message, the Governor recommends the full preservation of a municipality’s zoning authority, while seeking to strike a balance between it and the state’s policy of promoting renewable energy sources. The Governor recommends striking all of Section 1 of the bill, which restricted municipal zoning discretion.
Further, the Governor’s recommendations propose new language to clarify what a municipality may charge for processing costs. The proposed language reads…
http://www.njslom.org/letters/2011-0624-solar-panels.html