SENATE LABOR COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3714

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 6, 2021

      The Senate Labor Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 3714.

      This bill, for the period of the public health emergency and state of emergency declared by the Governor on March 9, 2020, and any subsequent extensions of the emergency or state of emergency, exempts any nonprofit or governmental employer which has elected to make payments in lieu of contributions from liability for payments in lieu of contributions for unemployment benefits paid to employees laid off by the employer during that public health emergency and any extensions of it, except that the employer is required to make payments in lieu of contributions from any available funds held in trust for that purpose from contributions made by its employees.  The bill provides that those employers are not liable for any portion of the payments of unemployment benefits which are not paid from the employee contributions held in trust or from funds provided by the federal government pursuant to the federal CARES Act, public law 116-136, pursuant to section 9012 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, or pursuant to any other applicable federal law, but that  portion shall be regarded as State liability relief to the employer and paid from the unemployment compensation fund.  If the employer made the payments during the public health emergency before the effective date of the bill, the employer is entitled to a reimbursement of all of those payments in lieu of contributions made during that period, except for payments made from funds held in trust for that purpose from contributions made by its employees.

      The bill appropriates from the General Fund the sum of $50 million to be used to reimburse the unemployment compensation fund for costs of providing State liability relief to employers pursuant to the bill.