LEGISLATIVE REPORT
Legislative session moving quickly
The 2018 legislative session is less than four months along, and the state legislature has packed a lot of business into that short span. Activity has included a number of bills significant to the NJ State PBA. And while April is usually a quiet month for legislative activity, the slowdown is only temporary. The PBA has requested movement on priority bills in the hope of moving them
ROB NIXON prior to the summer recess at the end of June. In addition, the influx of new legislators elected in November has necessitated another round of meetings with State PBA President Pat Colligan, Executive Vice President Marc Kovar and myself to introduce the PBA and our agenda to Trenton’ s newest reps. These meetings have become an excellent resource to build relationships and explaining where the PBA stands on issues that impact law enforcement. They often are first in a long line of followup meetings and talks that could mean the difference between success and failure in Trenton.
To date, the State PBA is tracking nearly 500 bills that have been introduced in the Senate and Assembly. Most of these will never receive a hearing, but many do move, requiring the expertise of the State PBA to ensure that law enforcement officers and their rights are protected.
Some of the bills that have moved, or have been introduced this session, that the State PBA is working on include:
Senate Bill 1( Sweeney): The bill amends the laws governing
shared services and consolidations among local governments. The State PBA has expressed concerns in meetings with Senate President Steve Sweeney’ s staff, and amendments have been requested to ensure fairness and protections for law enforcement officers subject to a potential merger or sharing of police services. The bill is currently on second reading in the Senate.
Senate Bill 5( Sweeney): The bill transfers management of the PFRS to the Board of Trustees of the PFRS. The bill passed the Senate and Assembly overwhelmingly and is currently on the governor’ s desk for review.
Senate Bill 785( Sarlo): The bill requires the Police Training Commission to develop accelerated training courses for certain county corrections officers. The bill was introduced at the request of the State PBA to ensure opportunities for job transfers through a uniform and fair process. The bill is on second reading in the Senate and the State PBA is currently reviewing recommendations for amendments recently provided by the attorney general’ s office.
Senate Bill 1739( Van Drew): The bill renames county corrections officers as county correctional police officers. The legislation mirrors a law signed last session to rename“ State Corrections Officers” as“ State Correctional Police Officers.” The bill unanimously passed the Senate and is awaiting consideration by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee.
Senate Bill 2300( Gopal): The bill limits the payment to public employees for accumulated unused sick leave upon retirement to $ 15,000, or higher amount under certain circumstances. There are a number of important facts to consider about this bill:
• The bill would apply to all active and future employees.
• The bill protects an employee’ s accumulated time. For example, officers who have in excess of $ 15,000 on the books keep what they have but can’ t cash out more than that amount once their contract expires, should the bill become law. It therefore doesn’ t take away any time earned before the bill becomes law.
• The bill would permit current or future officers to earn up to, but no greater than, $ 15,000 in sick leave that could be cashed out upon retirement, if they have less than $ 15,000 on the books should the bill become law. The State PBA has met with the sponsor to express our opposition to the proposal as an intrusion in the collective bargaining process. It fails to address the real problem with excessive sickleave payouts which come not from collective bargaining agreements, but from“ personal services contracts” signed between local governments and departments school districts with chiefs and superintendents. The vast majority of PBA contracts already contain a cap, and we expressed that PBA Locals should not have another item for bargaining removed from the table by the legislature.
The bill is currently in the Senate State Government Committee awaiting consideration.
Assembly Bill 3834( Barclay): The bill institutes an age limit of 65 for Class 1, 2 and 3 special law enforcement officers. The bill was introduced at the request of the State PBA to provide parity between the retirement age for specials and full-time law enforcement officers. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee.
If members have questions about legislation, contact your State Delegate for clarification. d
10 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ APRIL 2018