SENATE LABOR COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2965

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  FEBRUARY 9, 2023

      The Senate Labor Committee reports favorably Senate Bill, No. 2965 with committee amendments.

      This bill provides that a public safety worker who participated in the response to the September 11, 2001 attacks and is treated or monitored through the World Trade Center Health Program established by the Centers for Disease Control is presumed to be compensable under the State workers’ compensation law without respect to when the worker files his claim for compensation, except that the claim is required to be filed within two years after the effective date of the bill.  A worker is deemed ineligible for the benefits if the worker is eligible for benefits for the same injury, illness, or death under workers’ compensation programs of other states or the federal government.

      The bill requires the Division of Archives and Records Management in the Department of State, and each county, municipality, regional or joint public safety entity, or other agency involved in the public safety, to notify all active and retired personnel and next-of-kin, if the personnel are deceased, of the presumption of compensability within three months of the effective date of the bill

Committee Amendments:

      The amendments adopted by the committee:

      1.   Add local emergency medical services to the entities from which employers are required to maintain records regarding carcinogens at sites where public safety workers are exposed in connection with fires, explosions, spills and other events;

      2.   Prohibit rejection of a claim because of the term of service, age, or number of years of service of a public safety worker;

      3.   Remove the provision that a public safety worker be ineligible for compensation if receiving compensation from other jurisdictions but provide that the employer have the amount of compensation reduced by the amount of compensation from the other jurisdiction;

      4.   Provide, as an alternative to the requirement that the public safety worker file a claim within two years of the effective date of the bill, that the claim may be filed within two years of date when the claimant knew or should have known that the claimant sustained a permanent disability in connection with exposure at the World Trade Center; and

      5.   Require the Division of Archives and Records Management in the Department of State, and each county, municipality, regional or joint public safety entity, or other agency involved in the public safety, to notify all active and retired personnel and next-of-kin, if the personnel are deceased, of the presumption of compensability within three months of the effective date of the bill.