SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3772

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  NOVEMBER 13, 2025

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 3772.

     As reported, this bill revises the workers’ compensation law to modernize its treatment of board and lodging provided by an employer when calculating the rate of benefits.  Currently, board and lodging furnished by an employer are regarded as part of wages and valued at $25 per week, unless a different amount is fixed at the time of hiring.  Instead, the bill provides that, unless a different amount is fixed at the time of hiring, the value of employer furnished board and lodging would be its market value, except that if the claimant continues to receive board or lodging during the period of total temporary disability, the value of the board or lodging would not be included in the calculation of the workers’ compensation rate for purposes of temporary total disability.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that the bill will result in an increase of State expenditures of up to $11,700 in the first year, with ongoing claims creating an additive effect in each subsequent year.

      The OLS was unable to identify any job roles at the State or local level where board and lodging were furnished as part of the employment.  As such, the OLS anticipates the only circumstances where the State would have responsibility for paying workers’ compensation that include board and lodging are those related to the Second Injury Fund.

      The OLS notes that the Second Injury Fund makes benefit payments to injured workers who are totally and permanently disabled as a result of their last work-related injury combined with the worker’s pre-existing disabilities.