Taxes were talked about a lot Thursday at a state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee meeting for the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. This is something that usually happens at budget hearings for lawmakers.
Lawmakers asked Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo about training, unemployment, and the services the department offers to people in New Jersey. Among the people who asked him questions were state Sen. Michael Testa about the wage taxes that all 4.4 million working New Jerseyans have to pay.
The State Disability Benefits Fund is paid for by those taxes. Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed budget said that the fund that pays for Temporary Disability Insurance and Family Leave Insurance would have a deficit of $442 million at the end of fiscal year 2025. However, information given to the Office of Legislative Services by Asaro-Angelo showed that the fund would have more than $600 million by June 30, 2025.
Asaro-Angelo said the increase is just the way the system is set up by law right now, but he is excited to work with the group to “standardize and stabilize” the fund.
It’s been very hard to get people back to work this year, but this billion dollars is going to workers’ pockets instead. “This isn’t a tax on employers, so it’s a really bad regressive tax,” Testa said.
State Sen. Paul Sarlo, who chairs the committee, agreed with Testa that there was a reason to question the difference. He later explained that this means the most an employee can pay into family leave insurance will go up from $151 to $527.
Also, the temporary disability insurance payment will go from not being there at all to $341. The cost for wage earners will go up from $74 a year to $482 a year, which is more than $400 more.
How much money does the DEP in NJ expect to get?
There will be about $207.1 million for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development in the governor’s budget plan. Not quite the $210.6 million that was planned for 2024—missing by $3.5 million, or 1.6%.
What does the cash pay for?
The department helps people get jobs by giving them chances to improve their training and skills. It also controls funds for unemployment, workers’ compensation, and short-term or family leave. The staff’s job is to look at the job market, make sure labor rules are followed, and keep workers safe and healthy.
What did they say?
Asaro-Angelo said that the department is trying to bring the unemployment process up to date.
“Piece by piece, we’ve been making a new unemployment application to speed up the process,” he said. “Over the last two years, we’ve been releasing new products in small steps.”
His statement was that the new home page has more information and a “friendlier interface to reduce confusion and frustrations.”
That’s not all, the commissioner said. He also said that the department is working with AI to do everything from stop scams to write decisions on appeals.
Both State Sens. Teresa Ruiz and Douglas Steinhardt asked what the rule that state employees live in the state affects the workforce and how that works.
Asaro-Angelo said that employers in the state face “many challenges,” and he said that even his own department has seen applicants drop out of the process after the rule was made clear.
“Good intentions,” Ruiz said. “We did it in the Legislature, and of course we always want to do what’s best for New Jersey first. But when we see that something is hurting public service, classrooms, etc., we need to look again at policy issues that are actually good for everyone.”
Asaro-Angelo said the increase is just the way the system is set up by law right now, but he is excited to work with the group to “standardize and stabilize” the fund.
It’s been very hard to get people back to work this year, but this billion dollars is going to workers’ pockets instead. “This isn’t a tax on employers, so it’s a really bad regressive tax,” Testa said.
State Sen. Paul Sarlo, who chairs the committee, agreed with Testa that there was a reason to question the difference. He later explained that this means the most an employee can pay into family leave insurance will go up from $151 to $527.
Also, the temporary disability insurance payment will go from not being there at all to $341. The cost for wage earners will go up from $74 a year to $482 a year, which is more than $400 more.
How much money does the DEP in NJ expect to get?
There will be about $207.1 million for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development in the governor’s budget plan. Not quite the $210.6 million that was planned for 2024—missing by $3.5 million, or 1.6%.
What does the cash pay for?
The department helps people get jobs by giving them chances to improve their training and skills. It also controls funds for unemployment, workers’ compensation, and short-term or family leave. The staff’s job is to look at the job market, make sure labor rules are followed, and keep workers safe and healthy.
What did they say?
Asaro-Angelo said that the department is trying to bring the unemployment process up to date.
“Piece by piece, we’ve been making a new unemployment application to speed up the process,” he said. “Over the last two years, we’ve been releasing new products in small steps.”
His statement was that the new home page has more information and a “friendlier interface to reduce confusion and frustrations.”
That’s not all, the commissioner said. He also said that the department is working with AI to do everything from stop scams to write decisions on appeals.
Both State Sens. Teresa Ruiz and Douglas Steinhardt asked what the rule that state employees live in the state affects the workforce and how that works.
Asaro-Angelo said that employers in the state face “many challenges,” and he said that even his own department has seen applicants drop out of the process after the rule was made clear.
“Good intentions,” Ruiz said. “We did it in the Legislature, and of course we always want to do what’s best for New Jersey first. But when we see that something is hurting public service, classrooms, etc., we need to look again at policy issues that are actually good for everyone.”
