Bill
S 165
Expands survivor benefits by deeming unmarried under-24 college-enrolled children of deceased PFRS/SPRS members eligible, regardless of line-of-duty death.
Status
- Introduced in the New Jersey Senate: January 21, 2025.
- Reported favorably out of Senate committees (State Government; Budget & Appropriations) and placed on the Senate 2nd Reading (reported March 17, 2025).
- Amends P.L.1944, c.255 (Police & Firemen’s Retirement System, PFRS) and P.L.1965, c.89 (State Police Retirement System, SPRS).
Purpose / Intent
- To broaden survivor-benefit eligibility by changing the statutory definition of “child” for PFRS and SPRS so that a deceased member’s unmarried child who is under age 24 and enrolled in a degree program (minimum 12 credit hours per semester) qualifies as a child-beneficiary regardless of whether the member’s death occurred in the line of duty.
Key provisions
- Removes the current requirement that a child under age 24 and enrolled in higher education qualify only if the member “died in active service as a result of an accident met in the actual performance of duty” (and the death was not due to willful misconduct).
- Maintains other existing definitions of “child”: under 18; age 18+ enrolled in secondary school; any age if permanently disabled as certified by the medical board.
- Applies to both PFRS and SPRS membership definitions and related survivor-benefit rules.
Who is affected
- Primary beneficiaries: unmarried children (under 24) of deceased PFRS and SPRS members who are enrolled full‑time in higher education.
- Fiscal burden: employers who fund the retirement systems — predominantly local governments (municipalities and counties) for PFRS and the State for SPRS. PFRS membership is 86% local, so most increased costs fall on local governments.
Fiscal impact (Office of Legislative Services estimate)
- Increased actuarial liability: SPRS ≈ $2.1 million; PFRS ≈ $21.5 million to $28.7 million.
- Annual payment on added liability: SPRS ≈ $429,437; PFRS ≈ $4.4 million to $5.9 million.
- Aggregate annual cost increase to public payers: approximately $4.4 million to $6.3 million per year, split roughly:
- State share: $660,000 to $1.2 million annually
- Local share: $3.7 million to $5.1 million annually
- OLS notes the estimates rely on assumptions about how many decedents would be survived by qualifying children (e.g., assuming roughly half of deceased members have one qualifying child) and that actual costs could be lower or higher.
Procedural / next steps
- As of the latest committee report, the bill is favorably reported and on the Senate 2nd Reading; further legislative action (third reading in the Senate, and action in the General Assembly) is required for enactment.
Notes / caveats
- The bill does not change the amount or duration of existing survivor allowances in the statutes other than expanding which survivors (children under 24 in college) may qualify; OLS used typical survivor-benefit percentages (e.g., 20% if child beneficiary only; 15% if child and spouse survivors) to estimate costs.
- OLS and committee reports emphasize uncertainty in the number of future qualifying beneficiaries, so fiscal estimates are approximate.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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