SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 5358

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 8, 2026

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 5358 (1R).

      As amended, this bill revises the threshold for required participation in the New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program from employers that have at least one employee to those that have no fewer than 10 employees at no time in the previous calendar year. 

      The bill makes certain changes to administrative fees and clarifies that a public member will serve until a successor is appointed and may be reappointed upon the expiration of the member’s term.  Further, the bill provides additional board powers which include assessing the feasibility of making a multi-state or regional agreements, entering into agreements with other state agencies, and establishing processes that will govern what happens to an account after an enrollee’s death.

      The bill shifts the responsibility to provide employees with informational packets about the program from participating employers to the program itself.

      The bill provides flexibility for enrollees to change deductions and enroll in the program and eases enforcement language around employers that violate the terms of the program

      As amended and reported by the committee, Assembly Bill No. 5358 (1R) is identical to Senate Bill No. 4564, which was also amended and reported by the committee on this date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

      (1)  revise the threshold for required participation in the New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program from businesses that have at least one employee to businesses that have no fewer than 10 employees at no time in the previous calendar year;

      (2)  reinsert the definition of “small employer” and revise the number of employees to fewer than 10 individuals;

      (3)  reestablish the application of the bill, on a voluntary basis, to small employers; and

      (4)  to make a technical change.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      Fiscal information for this bill is currently unavailable.