LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 4409
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
DATED: JULY 1, 2024
SUMMARY
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Synopsis: |
Establishes “Mass Violence Care Fund.” |
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Type of Impact: |
State expenditure increase. |
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Agencies Affected: |
Department of Law and Public Safety; Department of the Treasury; Department of Health. |
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Fiscal Impact |
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State Expenditure Increase |
Indeterminate |
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· The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates the provisions of this bill would require an indeterminate increase in State expenditures to provide a sustainable source of funds, through the Mass Violence Care Fund, to provide coverage for physical and behavioral health care expenses related to a mass violence event that are not paid for by insurance or any other source.
· The bill requires the Office of the Attorney General to establish a working group to issue a report containing its recommendations for eligibility requirements and rules and any recommendations for legislation to the Victims of Crime Compensation Office within nine months after the bill’s effective date. Depending on the office’s resource allocation policies, the added initial workload may or may not augment the administrative expenditures of the office.
BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill establishes the “Mass Violence Care Fund” in the Department of Law and Public Safety. The fund is to be administered by the Victims of Crime Compensation Office and be used solely to provide a sustainable source of funds to provide coverage for physical and behavioral health care expenses related to a mass violence event that are not paid for by insurance or any other source.
The moneys in the fund are to be invested and reinvested by the Director of the Division of Investment in the Department of the Treasury. All costs of administering the fund, including the necessary and proper expenses incurred by the office in administering the fund, are to be paid from the fund.
Under the bill, the office is to make distributions from the fund in accordance with the following criteria and any rules or regulations adopted by the office establishing eligibility criteria: 1) only gains, interest, dividends, and other revenue earned on the moneys in the fund and any amounts gifted to the fund may be expended; 2) payments from the fund may be made only for an eligible victim’s eligible expense; 3) payments from the fund to a victim for an eligible expense may not be made sooner than three years after the applicable mass violence event; and 4) payments may not be made to satisfy a financial commitment for services or expenses that would otherwise have been paid from another public or private source, including but not limited to Medicaid or private insurance.
Under the bill, the office is to adopt rules and regulations establishing eligibility criteria for victims, mass violence events, and healthcare and other expenses and the office is not to make any distributions from the fund prior to the adoption of the rules and regulations.
Further, the bill requires the Attorney General to establish a Mass Violence Care Fund Working Group. The purpose of the working group is to identify specific options and eligibility criteria to help ensure that individuals adversely affected by a mass violence event are provided some financial relief from physical and behavioral health care costs not paid for by insurance or some other source.
Under the bill, the working group is to issue a report containing its recommendations for eligibility requirements and rules and any recommendations for legislation to the Victims of Crime Compensation Office no later than nine months after the bill’s effective date.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS estimates that the provisions of this bill would require an indeterminate increase in State expenditures to provide a sustainable source of funds, through the Mass Violence Care Fund, to provide coverage for physical and behavioral health care expenses related to a mass violence event that are not paid for by insurance or any other source.
The bill requires the Office of the Attorney General to establish a working group to issue a report containing its recommendations for eligibility requirements and rules and any recommendations for legislation to the Victims of Crime Compensation Office within nine months after the bill’s effective date. Depending on the office’s resource allocation policies, the added initial workload may or may not augment the administrative expenditures of the office.
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Section: |
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Analyst: |
Lead Fiscal Analyst |
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Approved: |
Thomas Koenig Legislative Budget and Finance Officer |
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).