SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 498

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 17, 2019

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 498 (1R), with committee amendments.

      As amended and reported by the committee, this bill revises several provisions of the “Criminal Injuries Compensation Act of 1971,” this State’s law governing payment of compensation to crime victims for certain expenses they incur as a result of a crime. 

      The amended bill clarifies those victims who are entitled to compensation from the VCCO.  Currently, payment may be ordered to a person who is injured or killed by the act or omission of another that constitutes a qualifying crime.  As amended, the VCCO may order the payment of compensation to a person who suffers personal, physical, or psychological injury or death resulting from another person’s conduct constituting a qualifying crime. 

     The amended bill expands the definition of a “victim” under the act to conform it to the definition of a victim under the Crime Victim’s Bill of Rights.  The definition also is expanded to include the parent of a child of the decedent so that the surviving parent of a child who is not married to the decedent may apply for compensation for the decedent’s child.

     The amended bill also establishes that the principal office of the Victims of Crime Compensation Office (VCCO), the agency responsible for administering the provisions of the act, is to be located in Newark, rather than Trenton.  The main office of the VCCO currently is located in Newark, with an ancillary office located in Trenton.

     Attorneys’ fees that may be awarded by the VCCO also are increased under the amended bill.  Currently, an attorney representing a victim before the VCCO may be paid up to 15 percent of the total amount of compensation paid to the victim, but not less than $300.  This minimum amount is increased to $500 under the bill.  Under current law, the VCCO also may allow a payment of up to $3,000 at an hourly rate it sets (currently $125) to an attorney who provides legal assistance to a victim in any legal matter.  The amended bill would increase this payment to up to $10,000 at an hourly rate of at least $275 in a legal matter arising out of the victimization.  Legal assistance includes assisting a crime victim in enforcing his or her rights in all courts, family law matters, obtaining protective and restraining orders, employment matters, accessing public benefits, and life planning.  As amended, the $25,000 cap on the combined award and payment of attorneys’ fees that was removed in the bill as introduced, is reinstated (the five-year limit on payments remains). 

     The amended bill clarifies that in determining whether to order compensation, the VCCO is to consider any facts that provide relevant evidence that the victim contributed to his or her injury or death and that the victim’s conduct was the proximate cause of the injury or death.  The amended bill defines relevant evidence as evidence having a tendency in reason to prove or disprove any fact of consequence to the determination of the action and is deemed to be admissible under the rules of evidence and does not include rumor, supposition, speculation, hearsay or opinion, except as otherwise deemed admissible under the rules of evidence.  Under the amended bill, the VCCO is authorized to make a limited award to for funeral benefits, mental health counseling, loss of support for dependent children, and attorneys’ fees in any case in which it is determined the victim’s conduct was the contributing factor to his or her death.  The provision that a person legally incapable of forming criminal intent due to age or insanity could be deemed to have intended an act or omission is removed under the amended bill.

     The amended bill also increases the maximum amount of an emergency award from $5,000 to $7,500 and increases the maximum award to compensate for funds stolen from a victim from $200 to $1,000.

     Under the amended bill, the list of crimes for which a victim is eligible for compensation is expanded to include simple assault, disorderly conduct, harassment, and leaving the scene of an accident. The bill also increases the time limit on filing a claim from three to five years after the injury or death; reduces the time frame within which the VCCO is to make a determination of eligibility for compensation from six months to 90 days (as amended, this 90-day limit may be extended for good cause if the order would otherwise be administratively denied); requires that payment be made to the victim and third-party vendors within 30 days of a determination of eligibility; removes the VCCO’s option to deny an award based on the victim’s failure to pay certain assessments to the VCCO; authorizes the VCCO to deduct from an award any amount due for these assessments or restitution; authorizes the VCCO to award compensation to an incarcerated victim; and removes the 10-year expiration date on claims. 

     Finally, the bill makes technical changes to the act to conform to the provisions of Reorganization Plan No. 001-2008, pursuant to which the “Victims of Crime Compensation Agency” was renamed the “Victims of Crime Compensation Office.” 

COMMITTEE  AMENDMENTS:

     The committee amended the bill to: 

     (1) increase the maximum amount that the VCCO can award for legal fees to $10,000 (the current limit is $3,000, which was increased to $6,000 in the introduced bill);

     (2) reinstate the $25,000 cap on the combined award and payment of attorneys’ fees that was removed in the introduced bill;

     (3) clarify that the VCCO may order the payment of compensation to a person who suffers personal, physical, or psychological injury or death resulting from another person’s conduct constituting a qualifying crime (under current law, payment may be ordered to a person who is injured or killed by the act or omission of another that constitutes a qualifying a crime);

     (4) remove the requirement that to be compensated for stolen funds, the amount of those funds is to exceed $50;

     (5) remove the crime of harassment from the list of qualifying crimes committed against a victim for which the VCCO may order compensation; 

     (6) allow for an extension of the 90-day limit on the VCCO’s decision to order an award for good cause if the order would otherwise be administratively denied; and

     (7) make other non-substantive clarifying and technical amendments. 

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds the annual expenditure increases associated with this proposed legislation to be indeterminate.  There is no data with which to evaluate the fiscal impact on the Victims of Crime Compensation Office (VCCO) resulting form additional administrative expenses and the payment of additional claims.  The VCCO may experience a workload increase as a result of increased claims due to expanding the definition of a victim and the timeframe in which minors have to file a claim. Depending on the resource allocation policies of the VCCO, the added responsibilities may or may not augment State and local government administrative expenditures.

     The bill increases the maximum amount that the VCCO may award for legal fees to $10,000; the current limit is $3,000.  Although the services and financial reimbursements may increase, the cap on victim’s awards however remains at $25,000.  The bill requires the principal office of the VCCO to be located in Newark, New Jersey. Currently, the VCCO has an office in Newark and Trenton, and the OLS does not have information as to whether the Trenton office may be closed, which would result in cost savings.