SENATE LABOR COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3571

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MARCH 2, 2026

      The Senate Labor Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 3571.

      This bill provides that certain volunteer and other workers, including but not limited to, firefighters and first aid or rescue squad workers, will receive the maximum workers’ compensation benefit for an injury or death regardless of whether the worker was employed outside of that position. 

      This bill is in response to the State Supreme Court case of Kocanowski v. Twp. of Bridgewater, 237 N.J. 3, 14 (2019), in which the Court held that the Legislature intended for “all volunteer firefighters [to receive] the maximum compensation allowed, regardless of current or previous income.”  The bill is intended to clarify any ambiguity in the existing law as to the workers’ compensation entitlement of certain volunteer firefighters and other workers.