file photo by Boyd Loving
January 5,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Many firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other volunteer first responders in New Jersey are being told to leave their posts for six months.
The State of New Jersey is saying that technically these volunteers hold two positions and must terminate from both positions in order to qualify for retirement benefits, when they retire .
State law says there must be a six-month separation of service from the town retires from before he can receive any compensation from the town again or else he puts his pension in jeopardy.
State Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-Westwood) said many towns rely heavily on volunteer services. Thus, she introduced a bill two years ago that would get rid of the six-month separation for firefighters.
“Went through committee unanimously; went through the entire senate unanimously,” Schepisi said.
The problem is that the bill has not been put up for a final vote in the assembly. If it is not voted on by this week, it expires.
Only Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus) can bring the bill up for a vote. Schepisi said he assured her it would move forward, but so far, it has not
Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi , “For my NJ friends please call your state assembly representatives and ask them to get Assembly Bill A-536 posted for a vote by Speaker Vincent Prieto on Monday. Our volunteer firefighters and EMS face losing their pensions if they continue to volunteer after retirement from a State, school or municipal job. My bill fixes this absurd requirement but time is running out.”
