Sponsored by:
Senator FRED H. MADDEN, JR.
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
Senator JOSEPH A. LAGANA
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Urges Governor to provide reports required by law regarding TDI and FLI program operations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution urging the Governor to provide information required by law regarding the operations of the State’s temporary disability insurance and family leave insurance programs.
Whereas, New Jersey, already a leader among states in providing income security for workers with the enactment of P.L.1948, c.110 creating the Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program to provide income for workers unable to work due to injuries and illnesses outside of work, showed further leadership in supporting working families with the enactment of P.L.2008, c.17, which expanded the TDI program by creating the State Family Leave Insurance (FLI) program to provide paid family leave; and
Whereas, P.L.2008, c.17 also required the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD), starting in 2010, to provide annual reports on both the TDI and FLI programs with data on the number of beneficiaries, the average duration and amount of benefits, the total cost of benefits and other program expenses and the amount of tax revenues supporting the programs; and
Whereas, The reports issued from 2010 to 2018 proved to be indispensable in evaluating the TDI and FLI programs, including major shortcomings in the timely payment of programs benefits and the publicizing of the programs, laying the groundwork for major reforms in 2018 and 2019 to improve program benefits and administration, including the enactment of P.L.2018, chapters 122 and 128, and P.L.2019, c.37; and
Whereas, P.L.2019, c.37 set standards for the timely payment of TDI and FLI benefits and required the DOLWD, starting in 2019, to issue annual reports on program compliance with the standards and plans to correct any deficiencies in meeting the standards, annual reports on the operation of private plans and their impact on workers and families, and annual reports on efforts of the DOLWD and community-based organizations to increase the worker awareness of the programs and use of program benefits; and
Whereas, None of the indicated reports and plans required by law have been issued since 2018, notwithstanding the great need for the reports due to the documentation at that time of program failure to meet the standards and the need for corrective plans for both the TDI and FLI programs, the added demands put on both programs by the enactment of P.L.2019, c.37 and other recent reforms, and further added demands from the impact of the COVID pandemic; and
Whereas, The resulting lack of essential information about the programs and DOLWD plans to improve their operation seriously hinders the Legislature in evaluating the progress of DOLWD in implementing these important programs which will pay more than $900 million in benefits in 2022 meeting crucial needs of working families; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House respectfully urges the Governor to provide to the Legislature and the public a report of all information required by P.L.2008, c.17 regarding the TDI and FLI programs for all years since 2018, and all information required for all of those years by P.L.2019, c.37 regarding: private plans for TDI and FLI; efforts by the DOLWD and community-based organizations to publicize and encourage the use of TDI and FLI benefits; and compliance with timely benefit payment standards for the TDI and FLI programs, together with, as required by P.L.2019, c.37, a current plan to correct any deficiencies in meeting the standards, and a current plan to increase the percentage of workers aware of the programs.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the State of New Jersey.
STATEMENT
This Senate resolution urges the Governor to provide the annual reports required by law regarding the operations of the State’s temporary disability insurance (TDI) and family leave insurance (FLI).
Since 2010, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) has been required by law to issue annual reports on the operations of the TDI and FLI programs, with improvement plans whenever program operations do not meet the standards set by law, but the DOLWD has failed to provide the required reports or plans since 2018.