ASSEMBLY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3607

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JANUARY 5, 2026

      The Assembly State and Local Government Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 3607.

      As amended by the committee, this bill extends accidental death benefits for survivors of certain State Police Retirement System (SPRS) retirees.

     Under current law, the surviving spouse or child of a retired member of the SPRS who died on or before July 8, 2019 and had been receiving an accidental disability retirement allowance is permitted to apply to receive accidental death benefits if the retired member had a qualifying condition or impairment of health due to World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations.

     This bill removes the limitation that only a surviving spouse or child of a qualifying SPRS retiree who died before July 8, 2019 is eligible, so that the provisions will apply regardless of when the SPRS retiree died, as long as the member was enrolled in the retirement system at the time of participation in World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations under orders or instructions to participate.  In addition, this bill establishes eligibility for a surviving spouse or child of a qualifying SPRS member who had been receiving an ordinary disability retirement, a special retirement, or a service retirement.  This bill prohibits a written and sworn statement from being required when applying for the accidental death benefits.

     Under current law, a spouse or child is only eligible for accidental death benefits if the member's or retiree's death was the result of a qualifying condition or impairment of health which the medical board determines to be caused by participation in World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations. 

     Under current law, the spouse of a deceased retired member who is receiving a pension due to the death of that member on or before July 8, 2019 is eligible to apply to the board of trustees and, upon approval of the application by the board, will receive the accidental death benefits if the surviving spouse submits sufficient documentation that the deceased retiree would have qualified for a retirement.  This bill also allows the spouse to apply if the member did qualify for retirement or if the member previously filed the required written and sworn statement.

     Under current law, a surviving spouse, former surviving spouse, or surviving child, or any legal guardian of the surviving child, must submit an application not later than two years after the effective date of the law.  This bill allows survivors to submit an application not later than two years after the date of the member or retiree’s death, or two years after the effective date of this bill, whichever is later.

     Under current law, a surviving spouse or former surviving spouse or surviving child, or any legal guardian of the surviving child, is prohibited from being granted a retroactive payment based upon the difference between the benefit the person would have received if the benefit had been applicable on the date of death of the retiree and the benefit that the person has received from that date of death to the effective date of the law.  This bill also provides that these survivors are prohibited from being granted a retroactive payment based upon the difference between the benefit the person would have received if the benefit had been applicable on the date of death of the retiree and the benefit that the person has received from that date of death to the date of the application approval if the date of approval is later than the effective date of the law.

      As amended and reported by the committee, Senate Bill No. 3607 is identical to Assembly Bill No. 4748, which was also amended and reported by the committee on this date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

      require that in order to receive the allowance under the bill, the retired member of SPRS must have been enrolled in the retirement system at the time of participation in World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations, under orders or instructions to participate;

      remove the ability of the World Trade Center Health Program to determine that the member’s or retiree’s death was due to participation in the World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations; and

      remove the requirement for the board of trustees of SPRS to provide written notification to each surviving spouse, former surviving spouse, and surviving child, and any legal guardian of a surviving child, of the provisions of the act.