LEGISLATIVE REPORT
PBA has been active in 2018 Legislative Session
The early stages of the first legislative session under Governor Phil Murphy have shown major progress on many NJ State PBA priorities . At a time when a variety of groups are seeking movement on their issues , the PBA has been busy and effective in Trenton .
The union has made no secret of its desire to quickly move legislation to provide for independent management , investment and policy-making
ROB NIXON powers of the PFRS . The bill , modeled on the best practices of the most successful police and fire pension funds across the nation , is the PBA ’ s highest priority . The bill moved quickly last session , but it was vetoed by Governor Christie in an attempt to tie the completely unrelated issue of sick-leave payout limits to the bill .
With the support of the bill sponsor , Senate President Sweeney , Senate Bill 5 has quickly moved through the Senate this term . A unanimous vote in the Senate State Government Committee and an 11-1 vote in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee within days of each other put the measure on the fast track to Senate approval . ( For more on the resubmission of the pension bill , see page 31 .)
And while protecting the pension system remains the highest priority , we have taken steps to introduce and advance other bills that are important to law enforcement officers . These include ( with sponsors noted ):
Senate Bill 1739 ( Van Drew ): The bill renames county corrections officers as county correctional police officers . The bill was unanimously released by the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee and would apply the title change permitted by law in 2017 for State Correctional Police Officers to county corrections .
Senate Bill 785 ( Sarlo ): The bill requires the Police Training Commission to develop accelerated training courses for certain county corrections officers . This legislation was passed by the state legislature last session but was vetoed by Governor Christie . The bill establishes a process and standards by which corrections officers can be transferred to a sheriff ’ s officer position . It was unanimously released by the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee .
In addition , the State PBA also has been active in opposition to Senate Bill 1036 . The legislation requires the attorney general to investigate deaths that are caused by law enforcement officers or occur within their custody . In addition to stripping this power from county prosecutors , the bill also requires that the names of the officers involved in the death and the names of the local investigating officers be made public under OPRA . The State PBA , the attorney general ’ s office and the county prosecutors all oppose the bill . Although it has been sent to the full Senate for passage , we continue to work with the sponsor and others to address our concerns .
These bills reflect a small number of issues the State PBA is tracking and pursuing early in this legislative session . We are monitoring more than 300 bills that have been proposed and will impact PBA members . With just one month completed in this two-year session , it is clear that the State PBA will once again be active and aggressive participants in the legislative process . And if our achievements , public and private , in that brief period are any indication , then PBA members should be able to count on a productive legislative session . d
12 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ FEBRUARY 2018