LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[First Reprint]
SENATE, No. 651
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
DATED: DECEMBER 14, 2023
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Revises workers’ compensation coverage for certain injuries to
volunteer and professional public safety and law enforcement
personnel.
Type of Impact: Annual increase in State and local expenditures.
Agencies Affected: Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact Annual
State Expenditure Increase Indeterminate
Local Expenditure Increase Indeterminate
 The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) notes that the bill will result in annual indeterminate
State and local expenditure increases from expanding workers’ compensation eligibility for
cardiovascular or cerebrovascular injuries resulting from engaging in a response to a law
enforcement, public safety, or medical emergency.
 The OLS notes the extent of these expenditure increases will depend on the overall increase in
the number of cases driven by the eligibility expansion under the bill.
BILL DESCRIPTION
Under current law, there is a rebuttable presumption that any cardiovascular or cerebrovascular
injury or death which occurs to individuals who are volunteer and professional public safety and
law enforcement personnel while those individuals are engaged in a response to an emergency is
compensable if that injury or death occurs while the individual is responding, under orders from
competent authority, to an emergency.
Office of Legislative Services Legislative Budget and Finance Office
State House Annex Phone (609) 847-3105
P.O. Box 068 Fax (609) 777-2442
Trenton, New Jersey 08625 www.njleg.state.nj.us
 FE to S651 [1R]
2
This bill expands the individuals that are covered by the presumption to include:
1. Any recognized emergency management member doing volunteer duty;
2. Any career emergency medical technician and paramedic employed by the State, county,
municipality, or private sector counterparts, that are engaged in public emergency medical and
rescue services; and
3. Any member working as a 911 dispatcher.
It also removes the requirement that the individual must be responding to orders under
competent authority in order to recover, and provides that individuals are covered by the
presumption when remediating from an emergency. The remediation window is limited to 24
hours from the end of the emergency.
The bill provides that the presumption of compensability is rebuttable by use of casual factors
such as horseplay, skylarking, self-infliction, voluntary intoxication, and illicit drug use.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS notes that the bill will result in annual indeterminate State and local expenditure
increases from expanding workers’ compensation eligibility for cardiovascular or cerebrovascular
injuries resulting from engaging in a response to a law enforcement, public safety, or medical
emergency. The OLS notes the extent of these expenditure increases will depend on the overall
increase in the number of cases driven by the eligibility expansion under the bill.
The Department of Labor and Workforce Development does not have statistics which show
either the overall proportion and dollar value of emergency service claims or the proportion and
dollar value of the specific cardiovascular and cerebrovascular claims addressed by the bill. In the
absence of these statistics, it is not possible to estimate the increase in total workers’ compensation
claims that will result from expanded eligibility. In addition, municipalities may elect to provide
coverage by paying into the State disability plan, obtaining private insurance, or self-insuring for
workers’ compensation coverage. It is not possible to anticipate how the expanded eligibility rules
would impact local spending in any of those specific categories, leading to the conclusion that the
bill will generate an indeterminate spending increase at the local level as well.
Section: Commerce, Labor and Industry
Analyst: John Gaudioso
Assistant Fiscal Analyst
Approved: Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the
failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 34:15-7.3
Reprint: 34:15-7.3