Assembly Panel Clears DeAngelo Bill to Provide Retirement Allowance to Police and Firefighters After 20 Years of Service

 Update: The bill passed the General Assembly on Monday, December 16th. 

(TRENTON) – A bill (A-6024) sponsored by Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo to provide members of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System with an annual retirement benefit of 50 percent of their final compensation after 20 years of service was approved Thursday by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

The benefit would be available to all PFRS members regardless of enrollment date or age at retirement.

DeAngelo (D-Mercer, Middlesex) released the following statement:

“Police and firefighters work tirelessly to protect our communities from harm. Every first responder in the PFRS system deserves the same retirement benefits after 20 years, no matter when they retire or enroll in the system. Unfortunately, under rules established by the Christie administration, that is not the case today. This bill will restore parity and fairness, and ensure our dedicated first responders are taken care of in their retirement years.”

*From the bill statement: This bill provides an additional category of service retirement for a member of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS). Under the bill, a member of the PFRS who is enrolled before or after the effective date of this bill may retire after the effective date of this bill, regardless of age, upon attaining 20 or more years of service credit and receive a retirement allowance equal to 50 percent of the member’s final compensation.

Under current law, a member must be 55 years of age or older to retire on a service retirement allowance of 50 percent of final compensation upon attaining 20 years or more of service credit. In addition, a 1999 law permitted members, who were already enrolled in PFRS at that time, to retire at any age with 50 percent of final compensation upon attaining 20 or more years of service credit. This bill extends the annual retirement benefit of 50 percent of final compensation after 20 or more years of service to all PFRS members regardless of enrollment date and regardless of age at retirement.