STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 2376

with Senate Floor Amendments

(Proposed by Senator GREENSTEIN)

ADOPTED: JULY 30, 2020

      These Senate amendments clarify that the period of a Public Health Emergency declared in Executive Order No. 103 of 2020 during which a public employee will become immediately eligible for health benefits in the State Health Benefits Program upon hire includes any period during which that emergency is extended.  The amendments also eliminate the requirement that the employee be hired specifically to provide services needed because of the coronavirus pandemic in order to be immediately eligible for health benefits. Finally, the amendments provide that immediate eligibility for health benefits will be applicable during the period of a Public Health Emergency in Executive Order No. 103, rather than the State of Emergency.