Bill Text: NJ A4398 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes fringe benefit rate for State public higher education institutions; requires employer pay for health care benefits for certain part-time faculty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-06-27 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Budget Committee [A4398 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A4398-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CRAIG J. COUGHLIN
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes fringe benefit rate for State public higher education institutions; requires employer pay for health care benefits for certain part-time faculty.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a fringe benefit rate for State public higher education institutions and requiring employer payment for health care benefits for certain part-time faculty, supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and amending P.L.2003, c.172.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. (New section) Beginning with the State fiscal year 2023 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury shall establish a separate fringe benefit rate for State public higher education institutions, including Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and State colleges and universities. The separate fringe benefit rate shall reflect the actual cost of employee retirement programs at public institutions of higher education, and shall be applied to all federal, dedicated, and non-State funded programs.
b. The payments to the State in accordance with the new rate established by the director shall not be reduced from the payments that would be required using the rate calculated in accordance with the process used prior to the effective date of this act, P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill), by more than $47,000,000 of the difference between the total amount as calculated using the new rate and as calculated using the rate in accordance with the process used prior to the effective date of this act.
c. For purposes of applying to federal and other government agencies, including, but not limited to, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and to private entities and foundations, for research and other grants, principal investigators and other faculty members employed by State public higher education institutions shall use the separate fringe benefit rate that reflects that actual cost of employee retirement programs calculated in accordance with subsection a. of this section.
2. Section 1 of P.L.2003, c.172 (C.52:14-17.33a) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. Notwithstanding any provision of P.L.1961, c.49 (C.52:14-17.25 et seq.) to the contrary, a part-time State employee, or a part-time faculty member, including part-time lecturers and adjunct faculty members, at a State public institution of higher education in this State if the public institution of higher education participates in the program, who is enrolled in a State-administered retirement system shall be eligible to participate in the State Health Benefits Program and may purchase health benefits coverage under the program in the State managed care plan as defined in section 2 of P.L.1961, c.49 (C.52:14-17.26) for the employee or faculty member and the dependents of the employee or faculty member. If such an employee or faculty member elects to enroll in the program, the employee or faculty member shall pay the full cost of the coverage selected and the employer shall not be responsible for any costs in connection with the purchase of the coverage, unless the employer shall be obligated to pay all or a portion of such costs in accordance with the provisions of a binding collective negotiations agreement
b. (1) Notwithstanding any provision of P.L. 1961, c.49 (C. 52:14-17.25 et seq.) to the contrary, a part-time faculty member, including part-time lecturers, faculty holding fractional appointments and adjunct faculty members, employed by a public institution of higher education in the State, including Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, State colleges and universities, and county colleges, shall be eligible to enroll in the NJ Direct 2019 or the Omnia Tiered Network plans offered by the program, or in substantially equivalent plans that may replace NJ Direct 2019 or the Omnia Tiered Network plans, provided the part-time faculty member satisfies the following conditions: (a) during the immediately prior fiscal year, July 1 through June 30, the part-time faculty member taught courses totaling at least 24 credits at one or more public institutions of higher education during the summer session, fall semester, winter session, or spring semester; and (b) the part-time faculty member is appointed to teach courses totaling at least 12 credits between July 1 and December 31 of the current fiscal year.
(2) If the above conditions are satisfied for enrollment in the plans, the part-time faculty member shall be considered a full-time employee pursuant to the applicable provisions of the program and eligibility for health care benefits shall commence on July 1 and continue through September 30 of the immediately following fiscal year to avoid interruptions in health care coverage for eligible part-time faculty members. Part-time faculty members qualifying for health care benefits may enroll in any level of coverage.
(3) If a part-time faculty member does not receive an appointment for a summer session or for the fall semester prior to July 1, and if the faculty member did not receive health care benefits pursuant to this subsection during the prior fiscal year, but satisfies the condition of teaching courses totaling at least 24 credits at one or more public institutions of higher education during the summer session, fall semester, winter session or spring semester, then, as soon as the faculty member is notified of appointments that satisfy condition of teaching courses totaling at least 12 credits between July 1 and December 31 of the current fiscal year, the faculty member shall be eligible to enroll in the program and such eligibility shall continue through September 30 of the immediately following fiscal year.
(4) Part-time faculty shall contribute to the cost of health care benefits through payroll deductions at each public institution of higher education based upon the part-time faculty member's annualized salary at that institution, at the rates specified for the plan in which the part-time faculty enrolls, unless pursuant to a collective negotiations agreement the employer agrees to lower contributions for part-time faculty.
[b.] c. The State Health Benefits Commission may establish rules and regulations concerning the enrollment and termination of coverage of employees and faculty members in the State Health Benefits Program, pursuant to this section, and the procedures for the remittance to the program of the cost of coverage.
The commission shall promulgate rules to bill public institutions of higher education employing part-time faculty who satisfy the eligibility requirements for enrollment in the program under subsection b. of this section. Billing shall be proportional based on the number of credits a part-time faculty member taught in the prior fiscal year at a public institution of higher education. The commission shall promulgate rules to designate the public institution of higher education that will have responsibility for enrolling the part-time faculty member in the program.
The employee or faculty member shall also be required to pay a proportionate share of administrative expenses of the program in such amounts and at such times as shall be determined and fixed by the commission, except when the employer is required to pay the cost of coverage for a part-time faculty member pursuant to subsection b. of this section. Amounts payable by a participating employee or faculty member for administrative expenses shall be collected in the same manner as premiums or periodic charges are paid and remitted to the State treasury and shall be used for such purposes.
[c.] d. The laws and regulations governing the State Health Benefits Program, except as modified in this section, are applicable to enrollments in the program under this section and shall be construed to apply to part-time employees or faculty members and their dependents in the same manner as to full-time employees or faculty members and their dependents to the extent possible.
[d.] e. Participation in the State Health Benefits Program pursuant to this section shall not qualify the employee or faculty member for employer or State-paid health care benefits in retirement in the program. Upon retirement, such employees or faculty members shall be permitted to enroll in the State managed care plan they were enrolled in prior to retirement through the retired group at their own expense.
[e.] f. The State Health Benefits Commission shall advise eligible employees, and the State public institutions of higher education shall advise eligible faculty members, that they may enroll in the State Health Benefits Program pursuant to this section and shall further advise eligible employees and faculty members, as may be appropriate, of any benefits to which they are entitled upon the termination of their employment. The State Health Benefits Commission shall determine the manner and form of the advisory notice to the employees and faculty members.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.103, s.27)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires that, beginning with the State fiscal year 2023, the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury will establish a separate fringe benefit rate for State public higher education institutions. The separate fringe benefit rate will reflect the actual cost of employee retirement programs at those colleges and universities, and will be applied to all federal, dedicated, and non-State funded programs.
The payments to the State in accordance with the new rate established by the director by the payments that would be required using the rate calculated in accordance with the process used prior to the effective date of the act by more than $47 million of the difference between the total amount as calculated using the new rate and as calculated using the rate in accordance with the process used prior to the effective date of this bill.
Under current law, the fringe rate used is not specific to employees at the State's public colleges and universities, but to State employees in general. This can cause inequities as many State employees are enrolled in the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS), while many of the employees employed by State public colleges and universities as enrolled in the Alternative Benefit Plan (ABP).
The bill also amends current law to change the eligibility of a part-time faculty member, including part-time lecturers, faculty holding fractional appointments, and adjunct faculty members, employed by a public institution of higher education in the State to enroll in two plans offered by the State Health Benefits Program. Under the bill a part-time faculty member would be considered a full-time faculty member if they satisfy the following conditions: (a) during the immediately prior fiscal year, July 1 through June 30, the part-time faculty member taught courses totaling at least 24 credits at one or more public institutions of higher education during the summer session, fall semester, winter session, or spring semester; and (b) the part-time faculty member is appointed to teach courses totaling at least 12 credits between July 1 and December 31 of the current fiscal year. The bill provides an opportunity to meet the conditions at separate times and subsequently enroll in SHBP.
For example, under the bill if a part-time faculty member taught courses totaling at least 24 credits between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022, and on August 15, 2022 the faculty member receives notice of appointments to teach 12 credits between September 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022, then the part-time faculty member will be deemed eligible to enroll in the SHBP effective September 1, 2022 and health care benefits will continue through September 30, 2023. If during the 2023 fiscal year (July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023), the part-faculty member again satisfies the condition of teaching 24 credits, the part-time faculty member's health care benefits will continue through September 30, 2024, provided the faculty member also satisfies the condition of being appointed to teach 12 credits between July 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023.
Under current law, adjunct faculty members are eligible for enrollment in the SHBP if the employer is participating in the SHBP and the adjunct is enrolled in the pension system, but the employer is not responsible for any cost associated unless a binding collective negotiations agreement requires the employer to assume some or all of the SHBP cost.
The bill also specifies that the State Health Benefits Commission will promulgate rules to bill public institutions of higher education employing part-time faculty who satisfy the eligibility requirements for enrollment in the SHBP. Billing will be proportional based on the number of credits a part-time faculty member taught in the prior fiscal year at a public institution of higher education. In addition, the commission will promulgate rules to designate the public institution of higher education that will have responsibility for enrolling the part-time faculty member in the SHBP.
