TRENTON – Legislation sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg which would require certain employers to provide pre-tax transportation benefits cleared the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee today.
“Many New Jerseyans rely on public transportation to get to work each day, and it can be very costly,” said Senator Weinberg (D-Bergen). “With bus passes costing up to $500 a month, allowing commuters to take that out of their paychecks, before taxes, could offer them significant savings.”
The bill, S-1567, would require every employer in the state with twenty employees or more, who are not part of a collective bargaining agreement, to offer a pre-tax transportation fringe benefit.
The pre-tax fringe benefit would allow an employee to set aside wages, which could be used to purchase certain transportation services. The wages set aside would be pre-tax and would not be subject to payroll tax for the employee or the employer, which would allow both the employee and the employer to reduce their federal tax payments.
Under the bill, the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development would ensure that required employers provide the benefit and issue citations to those who do not comply.
With today’s 9-3 vote, the bill was released from committee and next heads to the full Senate for further consideration.