LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[Second Reprint]
SENATE, No. 2891
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
DATED: MAY 19, 2023
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Expands scope of Office of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
Type of Impact: Annual State expenditure increase, potential annual State revenue
increase.
Agencies Affected: Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact Year 1 Year 2 & Thereafter
Between $460,000 At a minimum between $460,000
State Cost Increase and $965,000 and $965,000
Potential State Revenue Increase Indeterminate Indeterminate
 The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that the Office of the State Long-Term
Care Ombudsman (LTCO) will incur an expenditure increase of between $460,000 and
$965,000 in the first year of the bill’s implementation. Annual State costs thereafter are
estimated to be at least at these levels and may increase over time as more complaints are filed
with the office due to the bill’s provisions, thereby requiring the LTCO to hire more staff to
investigate and resolve those complaints.
 The OLS estimates that annual State revenue may increase under the bill by an indeterminate
amount to the extent that penalties are collected, as permitted under current law, from long-
term care staff and facilities for non-compliance with the new reporting mandate under the bill
regarding a resident, under the age of 60, who is being or has been abused or exploited.
BILL DESCRIPTION
The bill expands the current statutory responsibilities of the LTCO to include long-term care
residents under 60 years of age. The LTCO is responsible for securing, preserving, and promoting
the health, safety, and welfare of New Jersey's long-term care residents, primarily through
investigations of abuse and exploitation.
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
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The bill also requires a staff member employed at a long-term care facility to report to the
ombudsman that a resident, under the age of 60, is being or has been abused or exploited. Under
current law, staff are only mandated to report abuse or exploitation if the resident is 60 years of
age or older.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
While the Executive has not submitted a formal fiscal note for this bill, the Office of the Long-
Term Care Ombudsman estimates that the provisions of this bill will increase the number of
complaints it receives by 300 to 400 complaints a year, an increase of between 7.7 percent and
10.3 percent over federal fiscal year 2022 levels based on complaint data shared by the LTCO.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS concludes that the LTCO will incur an expenditure increase of between $460,000
and $965,000 in the first year of the bill’s implementation as a result of hiring additional staff to
respond to indeterminate growth in the number of annual complaints made by or on behalf of long-
term care residents made to the LTCO. The low estimate reflects the LTCO hiring four full-time
equivalent employees (FTEs) at a base salary of $72,000 plus fringe benefits and the high estimate
reflects the LTCO hiring six FTEs at a salary of $100,000 plus fringe benefits.
Annual State costs thereafter are estimated to be at least at these levels and may increase over
time as more complaints are filed with the office due to the bill’s provisions. Complaints will
increase under the bill due to the provisions that: 1) expand the scope of the ombudsman’s office
to include services to long-term care residents under the age of 60; and 2) mandate staff members
employed at long-term care facilities to report to the ombudsman that a resident, under the age of
60, is being or has been abused or exploited.
The OLS notes, that since 2016, the LTCO has gradually been expanding its services, as
staffing and volunteer resources permit, to address complaints involving residents under the age
of 60; however, there has been little promotion of this policy change to residents and their families.
In federal fiscal year 2022, the LTCO opened 417 cases regarding residents under 60, which
accounted for 11 percent of all cases opened that were associated with residents of a specific age.
By way of comparison, two years prior the LTCO opened 83 cases regarding residents under 60.
Under the bill, the LTCO is required to prepare and distribute to each long-term care facility
written notices providing information about the LTCO and how to file a complaint. The facility
is then to distribute these notices to each resident, regardless of age, or the resident’s guardian. It
is assumed that once the LTCO’s expanded scope is more widely known, the number of complaints
filed will increase. Moreover, mandating long-term care staff and facilities to report abuse and
exploitation for residents under 60 years of age will drive a caseload increase as well, particularly
since non-compliance holds a financial penalty for the staff member and the facility. However,
current law permits the LTCO not to investigate a complaint when it determines that the resources
available are insufficient for an adequate investigation. Absent the bill, according to the LTCO,
the office will employ 58 staff in FY 2023, which includes two temporary positions and eight part-
time hourly staff, and 42 of the staff, or 72 percent, are performing investigations.
Finally, the OLS estimates that annual State revenue may increase under the bill by an
indeterminate amount to the extent that penalties are collected, as permitted under current law,
from long-term care staff and facilities for non-compliance with the new reporting mandate
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regarding a resident, under the age of 60, who is being or has been abused or exploited. Generally,
it is assumed that this expanded mandate could increase the possibility of non-compliance;
however, the number and nature of such infractions is unpredictable.
Section: Human Services
Analyst: Sarah Schmidt
Lead Research 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: 52:27G-1, 52:27G-2, 52:27G-4, 52:27G-5, 52:27G-6, 52:27G-7, 52:27G-7.1, 52:27G-7.2, 52:27G-7.3, 52:27G-8, 52:27G-9, 52:27G-10, 52:27G-11, 52:27G-13, 52:27G-14