I am writing again to ask that as members of the respective Senate and Assembly Committees you bring to the floor and call for votes on the Bills S1069 & A2740 which have been introduced with no action since early 2020 in your respective committees. The bills will ensure that 9/11 responders who are members of PERS like myself are given the same protections that "The Bill Ricci world Trade Center Rescue, Recovery, and Cleanup Operations Act" P.L.2019 Chapter 157 gives to NJ Public Employees in Law Enforcement, Fire Fighters and EMS work titles.
Unfortunately chapter 157 left out the remaining PERS members like myself who because of our work titles do not qualify. I applied to Pensions and Benefits after Ch 157 was signed and was denied due to my work classification with the Department of the Treasury is a non-law enforcement, ems or fire fighter title.
I worked with the 10th District representatives to draft these bills in hopes that the respective committees and the members of the State Legislature would act in a non-partisan manner to ensure that all of the 9/11 Responders who are Public Employees had equal protection across the board. Unfortunately Bill S1069 has been sitting with no action since its introduction in January 30, 2020 and Bill A2740 has also been sitting with no action since it was introduced February 13, 2020.
My family and I had hoped that action would have happened prior to the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I spoke with Bill Ricci at the Rutgers EOHSI 9/11 20th Anniversary Commemoration on September 10th and he was pleased to here that I had helped get these bills drafted and surprised that they have been sitting in the respective committees for so long without any action.
