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Turner/Madden Legislation To Provide Annual Adjustments To Temporary Disability Benefit Contribution Rates Clears Senate Committee

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Shirley K. Turner (D-Mercer) and Fred Madden (D-Gloucester, Camden) to reduce the amount of money employees pay into the Temporary Disability Insurance fund was released Thursday from the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

“By 2013, the Temporary Disability Insurance fund will begin running a surplus. Moving to reduce the amount of money collected from workers can ensure that they will have more disposable income on hand. This income can in turn be put right back into the economy,” said Turner.

“This legislation will give money back to working residents at a time when they need every dollar they can get. By reducing the amount of money collected, we are providing a much needed break for both public and private workers,” said Madden, Chair of the Senate Labor Committee.

The bill (S2609) would require the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, beginning in 2012, to make annual adjustments in the rate of contribution paid by workers into the Temporary Disability Insurance fund.

Over the past 16 years, a total of $773 million in funds that workers paid into Temporary Disability Insurance had been diverted to help balance the state budget. Last November, voters approved a Constitutional amendment to ensure that assessments on employee wages by the state be dedicated to the payment of employee benefits and not diverted for other purposes.

The legislation now heads to the full Senate.

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