ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 32

with Assembly committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 20, 1996

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 32, with committee amendments.

      Assembly Bill No. 32, as amended, authorizes and directs the State Treasurer to requisition and withdraw, on or after July 1, 1996, an amount not greater than $250 million from the State disability benefits fund and to deposit that amount in the General Fund. The bill provides that for the purposes of setting the rate of employer contributions to the State disability benefits fund, the $250 million withdrawn will be treated as if it were still in the State disability benefits fund.

       The bill appropriates from the General Fund to the State disability benefits fund the entire amount determined by the State Treasurer to be necessary to meet, in full, the requirements of present law for repayment to the State disability benefits fund of amounts still outstanding from a previous loan, including interest due.

      To prevent any reductions or delays in the payment of temporary disability benefits, the bill requires that, whenever the amount in the State disability benefits fund is less than the amount required to pay the benefits and the necessary costs of administering those benefits, the additional amount required to pay the benefits and the administrative costs will be paid from the General Fund. The bill provides that those amounts paid from the General Fund be repaid to the General Fund from the State disability benefits fund at such time as the Treasurer determines that the repayment may be made without reducing or delaying benefits.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill authorizes and directs the State Treasurer to requisition and withdraw on or after July 1, 1996 an amount not greater than $250 million from the State disability benefits fund and to deposit that amount in the General Fund.

      In addition, the bill appropriates from the General Fund to the State disability benefits fund the entire amount determined by the State Treasurer to be necessary to meet, in full, the requirements of present law for repayment to the State disability benefits fund of amounts still outstanding from a previous loan, including interest due.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The amendments clarify that the repayment from the State disability benefits fund shall not increase employee or employer contributions to the fund.