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Bill

S 305

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2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Wes Climer and 11 co-sponsors

Require Administrative Law Judges to join the WCJ Part of PERS; transfer all current ALJs to that part within 90 days, with General Fund funding for unfunded liabilities.

Referred to Committee on Judiciary
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Bill Summary · S 305

Summary — Senate Bill S-305 (as reflected in provided documents)

Note on documents: The materials you provided contain multiple, inconsistent items (including an unrelated Massachusetts S.305 on employee ownership and assorted legislative-action entries). This summary focuses on the New Jersey bill text, committee report, and fiscal estimate in the packet — which consistently describe a measure to enroll Administrative Law Judges in the Workers’ Compensation Judges Part of the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS).

Main purpose

Require Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) of the Office of Administrative Law to be enrolled in the Workers’ Compensation and Administrative Law Judges Part of the Public Employees’ Retirement System (WCJ Part of PERS) as a condition of employment, and to transfer currently enrolled ALJs into that part.

Key provisions

  • Enrollment requirement: ALJs appointed after the bill’s effective date must be enrolled in the WCJ Part of PERS rather than the Defined Contribution Retirement Program (DCRP) or the regular PERS part.
  • Transfer of current participants:
    • ALJs currently in the DCRP will be transferred into the WCJ Part of PERS within 90 days after the bill’s effective date.
    • ALJs already in PERS (regular part) will be transferred into the WCJ Part of PERS within 90 days after the bill’s effective date.
  • Account/service credit treatment: DCRP account balances for transferred judges will be moved and judges will receive service credit for their prior ALJ service.
  • Governance: ALJs transferred to the WCJ Part will be subject to the laws and regulations governing that PERS part.
  • Funding of liabilities: The unfunded accrued liability resulting from transferring members into the WCJ Part will be paid by State General Fund appropriations.
  • Statutory amendments: The bill amends provisions of P.L.2007, c.92; P.L.2001, c.259; and P.L.1954, c.84 to implement the changes.

Fiscal impact

  • Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimate: Annual State expenditure increase of approximately $5.5 million to the General Fund.
    • About $5.0 million of that increase is attributable to transferring ALJs from the DCRP into the WCJ Part.
    • About $0.5 million is attributable to transfers from the regular PERS part into the WCJ Part.
  • The bill specifies that appropriations from the General Fund will cover the unfunded liability associated with transferred members.

Who is affected

  • Primary: Administrative Law Judges (Office of Administrative Law) — current and future ALJs.
  • State government: Department of the Treasury / Division of Pensions and Benefits (administration), and the State General Fund (to pay increased pension costs).
  • Indirect: Other PERS participants are not directly altered, but State pension accounting and appropriations are affected.

Procedural / timeline aspects

  • Transfers of current ALJs into the WCJ Part must occur within 90 days of the bill’s effective date.
  • OLS fiscal estimate dated January 13, 2025.
  • Committee action in the materials: reported favorably by the Senate State Government committee (document dated December 16, 2024). Your status note indicates the bill was referred to Labor (status: REFERRED TO LABOR; introduced January 29, 2025).
  • The bill also includes technical statutory amendments to conform current law to the enrollment change.

Caveat / data quality note

The packet includes unrelated drafts and dockets (e.g., a Massachusetts S.305 on employee ownership and several inconsistent sponsor/committee entries). The summary above reflects the New Jersey-focused materials (bill text, committee statement, and fiscal note) that consistently describe the ALJ → WCJ Part enrollment change and fiscal effects. If you want a summary targeted to a different S.305 in another jurisdiction (e.g., the Massachusetts employee-ownership measure), please provide that version or confirm which S.305 you want summarized.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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