12th District Republican Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon announced today that he would be introducing a bill which would make health benefits available only to those public employees, elected officials and appointees who work fulltime. The bill is co-sponsored by Assemblyman Louis Greenwald, D-Camden, who is also the Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee.

“While we argue over this cut or that to the state budget, the elephant in the room continues to be the health and pension obligations we owe to state employees”, said O’Scanlon. “Let me be clear: full time employees deserve full health benefits. But let me also be clear about this: the state simply cannot afford anymore to give health benefits to people who do not work full time. The time has come to make the hard choices which are going to put this state back on sound financial footing, and I believe this a big step in that direction.”

The bill provides that in order for an employee, appointee or elected official to be eligible for health care benefits from the State, a local government, board of education or other public employer, the person’s annual salary or compensation must be fixed at an amount equivalent to, or more than, the State’s minimum wage (set under N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a4) multiplied by 1,820 (52 weeks times 35 hours) and the hours of work must be fixed at 35 or more per week.  The State’s hourly minimum wage has been $7.15 since October 1, 2006.

O’Scanlon concluded by saying “I am grateful to Assemblyman Greenwald for agreeing to sponsor this important legislation with me. I welcome the bi-partisan support for addressing the fiscal crisis which New Jersey finds itself in, and I look forward to working with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle in order to address these important issues.”