22. State disability benefits fund. (a) The State disability benefits fund, hereinafter referred to as the fund, is hereby established. The fund shall remain in the custody of the State Treasurer, and to the extent of its cash requirements shall be deposited in authorized public depositories in the State of New Jersey. There shall be deposited in and credited to the fund the amount of worker and employer contributions provided under subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) of subsection (d) of R.S.43:21-7 and subsection (e) of R.S.43:21-7, less refunds authorized by the chapter (R.S.43:21-1 et seq.) to which this act is a supplement, and the entire amount of interest and earnings from investments of the fund, and all assessments, fines and penalties collected under this act. The fund shall be held in trust for the payment of disability benefits pursuant to this act, for the payment of benefits pursuant to subsection (f) of R.S.43:21-4, and for the payment of any authorized refunds of contributions. All warrants for the payment of benefits shall be issued by and bear only the signature of the Director of the Division of Unemployment and Temporary Disability Insurance or his duly authorized agent for that purpose. All other moneys withdrawn from the fund shall be upon warrant signed by the State Treasurer and countersigned by the Director of the Division of Unemployment and Temporary Disability Insurance of the Department of Labor of the State of New Jersey. The Treasurer shall maintain books, records and accounts for the fund, appoint personnel and fix their compensation within the limits of available appropriations. The expenses of the Treasurer in administering the fund and its accounts shall be charged against the administration account, as hereinafter established. A separate account, to be known as the administration account, shall be maintained in the fund, and there shall be credited to such account an amount determined to be sufficient for proper administration, not to exceed, however, 1/10 of 1% of the wages with respect to which current contributions are payable into the fund pursuant to paragraph (3), but not paragraph (4), of subsection (a) of R.S.43:21-7, and the entire amount of any assessments against covered employers, as hereinafter provided, for costs of administration prorated among approved private plans. The costs of administration of this act, including R.S.43:21-4(f), shall be charged to the administration account.

(b) A further separate account, to be known as the unemployment disability account, shall be maintained in the fund. Such account shall be charged with all benefit payments under R.S.43:21-4(f).

Prior to July 1 of each calendar year, the Division of Unemployment and Temporary Disability Insurance of the Department of Labor of the State of New Jersey shall determine the average rate of interest and other earnings on all investments of the State disability benefits fund for the preceding calendar year. An amount equal to the sum of the amounts withdrawn from the unemployment trust fund pursuant to section 23 hereof multiplied by such average rate shall be determined by the division and credited to the unemployment disability account as of the end of the preceding calendar year.

If the unemployment disability account shall show an accumulated deficit in excess of $200,000.00 at the end of any calendar year after interest and other earnings have been credited as provided hereinabove, the division shall determine the ratio of such deficit to the total of all taxable wages paid during the preceding calendar year, and shall make an assessment against all employers in an amount equal to the taxable wages paid by them during such preceding calendar year to employees, multiplied by such ratio, but in no event shall any such assessment exceed 1/10 or 1% of such wages; provided, however, that the assessment made against the State (including Rutgers, The State University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology) shall not exceed the sum of all benefits paid under the provisions of R.S.43:21-4(f) as the result of employment with the State. Such amounts shall be collectible by the division in the same manner as provided for the collection of employee contributions under this chapter (R.S.43:21-1 et seq.). In making this assessment, the division shall furnish to each affected employer a brief summary of the determination thereof. The amount of such assessments collected by the division shall be credited to the unemployment disability account.

As used in this section, “taxable wages” shall mean wages with respect to which employer contributions have been paid or are payable pursuant to subsections (a), (b) and (c) of R.S.43:21-7.

(c) A board of trustees, consisting of the State Treasurer, the Secretary of State, the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, the director of the division, and the State Comptroller, is hereby created. The board shall invest and reinvest all moneys in the fund in excess of its cash requirements, and such investments shall be made in obligations legal for savings banks; provided, however, that the provisions of this subsection shall in all respects be subject to the provisions of P.L.1950, c.270 (C. 52:18A-79 et seq.).

(d) There is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of the fund, such amounts as may from time to time be required for the payment of disability benefits, and such amounts as may be required each year, as contained in the annual appropriation act, for the administration of this act, including R.S.43:21-4(f).

L.1948, c.110, s.22; amended 1951, c.355; 1968, c.406, s.1; 1970, c.324, s.2; 1980, c.18, s.3; 1984, c.104, s.5; 1994, c.112, s.3; 2012, c.45, s.126; 2019, c.37, s.19.