NJBIA is urging member companies to contact their legislators and ask them to support Governor Chris Christie's plan to avoid a $1 billion Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax increase on July 1.

Members can use our quick and easy online system to contact legislators directly. New Jersey is paying out more in unemployment benefits than it collects in payroll taxes, leaving the Unemployment Insurance (UI) fund insolvent. If nothing is done, employers across the State will get hit with a $1 billion payroll tax increase. On average, employers would pay an additional tax of $400 per employee, but some companies could pay as much as $1,000 more. This huge increase will make it more difficult for employers to operate in this poor economy and will lead to more layoffs.

NJBIA strongly supports the Governor's plan, which would delay the full impact of this tax increase and phase it in over three years, thus avoiding a huge tax shock on July 1. The plan also would make a number of common-sense reforms to New Jersey's unemployment rules and benefits, such as preventing people who are fired for misconduct from collecting unemployment, instituting a one-week waiting period for benefits, as 40 other states have done, and making a small reduction in maximum benefits for new recipients of unemployment funds starting July 1. For more information, contact Christine Stearns.

2. Healthcare Legislative Leaders Debate Mandates, Costs at NJBIA Breakfast

Controlling healthcare costs, dealing with healthcare mandates and deciding how much to pay out-of-network providers topped the discussion at NJBIA's Meet the Decision Makers—Healthcare breakfast on March 3. Senate Health Committee Chairwoman Loretta Weinberg; Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee Chairman Gary Schaer, and Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz, a member of the Assembly Health Committee, spoke and took questions from an audience of NJBIA members.

While broad State-level policy changes are on hold while Congress debates comprehensive health insurance reform, there are specific issues that need to be addressed in New Jersey. One of the most important being the financial impact of legislatively imposed coverage mandates.

"The mandates we have in the State are not financial policy, they are a matter of social policy," Schaer said. Munoz pointed out, however, that if costs continue to rise because of healthcare mandates, fewer people will be able to afford insurance. She called for creating a basic health insurance plan, which would attract more people by offering them necessary insurance coverage at a more affordable price. "By increasing the pool of insured people, we would be making insurance more affordable for everyone," Munoz said. Weinberg said she opposes the basic plan idea because limiting coverage saves money for some people but makes insurance more expensive for others who need broader coverage. "We have to look at the overall picture," Weinberg said.

Schaer said the most important issue in his committee would be deciding what rates out-of-network providers of healthcare services should be paid compared to providers that are part of a health insurance network. Schaer said this is an important issue to all parties involved in healthcare as it impacts the amount of payment to providers and the ability of insurance companies to maintain strong provider networks. Schaer said he would bring all parties together in an effort to build a consensus.

Weinberg strongly objected to the "draconian" cuts in FamilyCare that were announced in February by Governor Chris Christie. "All that does is create more folks going to emergency rooms that all of us pay for," she said.

3. NJBIA Backs Regulatory Reform Bill

NJBIA supports legislation to reform New Jersey's regulatory system by reining in the use of "guidance documents" which are subsequently enforced as if they are regulations. NJBIA Vice President David Brogan testified March 4 in favor of A-2464 (Burzichelli), which was released by the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee. It's the first regulatory reform legislation to be acted on since regulatory reform was made a priority by Governor Chris Christie, Assembly Speaker Shelia Oliver, and Senate President Stephen Sweeney.

Guidance documents can be valuable tools to assist the regulated community in complying with complex regulations. But the recommendations should not be binding or mandatory. State departments, however, have had a history of using guidance documents as mandatory conditions of permits. Furthermore, the departments can issue penalties for not complying with the documents. Unlike regulations, most guidance documents do not undergo public scrutiny, are not subjected to public hearings or input and are not adopted according to the State's Administrative Procedures Act. "More oversight of bureaucracies by the Legislature is necessary in order to ensure that guidance documents are not treated the same as rules and that standards are not set in a vacuum," Brogan said.

On March 1, Dave Brogan also provided comments to the Lieutenant Governor's Red Tape Review Group, which Governor Chris Christie created in January to conduct a comprehensive review of all State regulations and the regulatory process. "Increased stakeholder involvement, the use of peer-reviewed science, and adequate economic impact analyses must all be part of regulatory reform," Brogan told the committee.

For more information, contact David Brogan.

4. HR101 Seminar: An Employment Law & HR Primer, Friday, March 26

Running your business is hard enough. But as an employer, you also have to deal with complex employment laws as well as critical human resource issues. That's why NJBIA is hosting a half-day seminar HR101 Seminar: An Employment Law & HR Primer on Friday, March 26 at the Sheraton, Eatontown, NJ (Exit 105, Garden State Parkway).

At this seminar our experts will tell you how to avoid costly legal problems, establish employment policies and communicate those policies to your workers. The program begins with a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 12:30 p.m. The cost is $129 per person for NJBIA members and $169 for nonmembers.

Register online now or, for more information, contact Katie Wittkamp at 609-393-7707, ext. 239. To become a sponsor, contact Sherry Esteves at ext. 219.