New Jersey Assembly Bill A3161 Comm Sub / Analysis

                      
(Sponsorship Updated As Of: 3/11/2024)  
ASSEMBLY, No. 3161   
 
STATE OF NEW JERSEY 
221st LEGISLATURE  
   
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION 
 
 
Sponsored by: 
Assemblywoman  CLEOPATRA G. TUCKER 
District 28 (Essex and Union) 
 
Co-Sponsored by: 
Assemblyman Rumpf 
 
 
 
 
SYNOPSIS 
 Broadens eligibility for certain civil service and pension benefits for 
veterans by eliminating requirement of service during specified dates or in 
specified locations.  
  
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 
 As reported by the Assembly Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee with 
technical review. 
      
A3161 TUCKER 
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 EXPLANATION – Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is 
not enacted and is intended to be omitted in the law. 
 
 Matter underlined thus is new matter. 
 
 
AN ACT concerning eligibility for certain civil service and pension 1 
benefits for veterans, amending and repealing various parts of 2 
the statutory law, and supplementing Title 11A of the New 3 
Jersey Statutes. 4 
 5 
 BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State 6 
of New Jersey: 7 
 8 
 1. N.J.S.11A:5-1 is amended to read as follows:   9 
 11A:5-1. As used in this chapter:  10 
 a. "Disabled veteran" means any veteran who is eligible to be 11 
compensated for a service-connected disability [from war service] 12 
by the United States [Veterans Administration] Department of 13 
Veterans Affairs or who receives or is entitled to receive equivalent 14 
compensation for a service-connected disability [which arises out 15 
of military or naval service as set forth in this chapter] and who has 16 
submitted sufficient evidence of the record of disability [incurred in 17 
the line of duty] to the Adjutant General of the Department of 18 
Military and [Veterans'] Veterans Affairs and received a 19 
determination of status no later than eight days prior to the issuance 20 
of an employment list, for which that individual received a passing 21 
score on an examination; 22 
 b. "Veteran" means any [honorably discharged soldier, sailor, 23 
marine or nurse who served in any army or navy of the allies of the 24 
United States in World War I, between July 14, 1914 and November 25 
11, 1918, or who served in any army or navy of the allies of the 26 
United States in World War II, between September 1, 1939 and 27 
September 2, 1945 and who was inducted into that service through 28 
voluntary enlistment, and was a citizen of the United States at the 29 
time of the enlistment, and who did not renounce or lose his or her 30 
United States citizenship; or any soldier, sailor, marine, airman, 31 
nurse or army field clerk, who has served in the active military or 32 
naval service of the United States and has been discharged or 33 
released under other than dishonorable conditions from that service 34 
in any of the following wars or conflicts] person honorably 35 
discharged or released under honorable circumstances from federal 36 
active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United 37 
States or a Reserve component thereof and who has presented to the 38 
Adjutant General of the Department of Military and [Veterans'] 39 
Veterans Affairs sufficient evidence of the record of service and 40 
received a determination of status no later than eight days prior to 41 
the issuance of an employment list, for which that individual 42 
received a passing score on an examination [: 43   
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 (1) World War I, between April 6, 1917 and November 11, 1 
1918; 2 
 (2) World War II, on or after September 16, 1940, who shall 3 
have served at least 90 days beginning on or before December 31, 4 
1946 in such active service, exclusive of any period of assignment 5 
for a course of education or training under the Army Specialized 6 
Training Program or the Navy College Training Program, which 7 
course was a continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to 8 
completion, or as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service 9 
academies; except that any person receiving an actual service-10 
incurred injury or disability shall be classed a veteran whether or 11 
not that person has completed the 90-day service; 12 
 (3) Korean conflict, on or after June 23, 1950, who shall have 13 
served at least 90 days beginning on or before January 31, 1955, in 14 
active service, exclusive of any period of assignment for a course of 15 
education or training under the Army Specialized Training Program 16 
or the Navy College Training Program, which course was a 17 
continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to completion, or 18 
as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service academies; except 19 
that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or 20 
disability shall be classed as a veteran, whether or not that person 21 
has completed the 90-day service; 22 
 (4) Lebanon crisis, on or after July 1, 1958, who has served in 23 
Lebanon or on board any ship actively engaged in patrolling the 24 
territorial waters of that nation for a period, continuous or in the 25 
aggregate, of at least 14 days commencing on or before November 26 
1, 1958 or the date of termination of that conflict, as proclaimed by 27 
the President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 28 
termination is the latest, in such active service; provided, that any 29 
person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or disability shall 30 
be classed as a veteran whether or not that person has completed the 31 
14 days' service as herein provided; 32 
 (5) Vietnam conflict, on or after December 31, 1960, who shall 33 
have served at least 90 days beginning on or before May 7, 1975, in 34 
active service, exclusive of any period of assignment for a course of 35 
education or training under the Army Specialized Training Program 36 
or the Navy College Training Program, which course was a 37 
continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to completion, or 38 
as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service academies, and 39 
exclusive of any service performed pursuant to the provisions of 40 
section 511(d) of Title 10, United States Code, or exclusive of any 41 
service performed pursuant to enlistment in the National Guard or 42 
the Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Marine 43 
Corps Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve; except that any person 44 
receiving an actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be 45 
classed as a veteran, whether or not that person has completed the 46 
90-day service as provided; 47   
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 (6) Lebanon peacekeeping mission, on or after September 26, 1 
1982, who has served in Lebanon or on board any ship actively 2 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 3 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 4 
commencing on or before December 1, 1987 or the date of 5 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 6 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 7 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 8 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 9 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 10 
service as herein provided; 11 
 (7) Grenada peacekeeping mission, on or after October 23, 12 
1983, who has served in Grenada or on board any ship actively 13 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 14 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 15 
commencing on or before November 21, 1983 or the date of 16 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 17 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 18 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 19 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 20 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 21 
service as herein provided; 22 
 (8) Panama peacekeeping mission, on or after December 20, 23 
1989 or the date of inception of that mission, as proclaimed by the 24 
President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 25 
inception is earliest, who has served in Panama or on board any ship 26 
actively engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for 27 
a period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 28 
commencing on or before January 31, 1990 or the date of 29 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 30 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 31 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 32 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 33 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 34 
service as herein provided; 35 
 (9) Operation "Desert Shield/Desert Storm" mission in the 36 
Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf, on or after August 2, 1990 37 
or the date of inception of that operation, as proclaimed by the 38 
President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 39 
inception is earliest, who has served in the Arabian peninsula or on 40 
board any ship actively engaged in patrolling the Persian Gulf for a 41 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 42 
commencing on or before the date of termination of that mission, as 43 
proclaimed by the President of the United States or Congress, 44 
whichever date of termination is the latest, in such active service; 45 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 46 
or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 47 
has completed the 14 days' service as herein provided; 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
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 (10) Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch, 1 
on or after August 27, 1992, or the date of inception of that 2 
operation, as proclaimed by the President of the United States, 3 
Congress or United States Secretary of Defense, whichever date of 4 
inception is earliest, who served in the theater of operation, 5 
including in the Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf, and in 6 
direct support of that operation for a period, continuously or in the 7 
aggregate, of at least 14 days in such active service commencing on 8 
or before the date of termination of that operation, as proclaimed by 9 
the President of the United States, Congress or United States 10 
Secretary of Defense, whichever date of termination is the latest; 11 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 12 
or disability while engaged in such service shall be classed as a 13 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 14 
service as herein provided; 15 
 (11) Operation "Restore Hope" in Somalia, on or after December 16 
5, 1992, or the date of inception of that operation as proclaimed by 17 
the President of the United States or the Congress, whichever date 18 
is earliest, who has served in Somalia or on board any ship actively 19 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 20 
period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days in such 21 
active service commencing on or before March 31, 1994; provided 22 
that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or 23 
disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 24 
has completed the 14-day service as herein provided; 25 
 (12) Operations "Joint Endeavor" and "Joint Guard" in the 26 
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on or after November 20, 27 
1995, who served in such active service in direct support of one or 28 
both of the operations for at least 14 days, continuously or in the 29 
aggregate, commencing on or before June 20, 1998, and (1) was 30 
deployed in that nation or in another area in the region, or (2) was 31 
on board a United States naval vessel operating in the Adriatic Sea, 32 
or (3) operated in airspace above the Republic of Bosnia and 33 
Herzegovina; provided that any person receiving an actual service-34 
incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or 35 
not that person completed the 14-day service requirement; 36 
 (13) Operation "Uphold Democracy" in Haiti, on or after 37 
September 19, 1994, who served in Haiti or on board any ship 38 
actively engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for 39 
a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days in 40 
such active service commencing on or before March 31, 1995, and 41 
who received an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for such 42 
service; provided, that any person receiving an actual service-43 
incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or 44 
not that person has completed the 14 days' service as herein 45 
provided or received an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; 46 
 (14) Operation "Enduring Freedom", on or after September 11, 47 
2001, who served in a theater of operation and in direct support of 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
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that operation for a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at 1 
least 14 days in such active service commencing on or before the 2 
date the President of the United States or the United States 3 
Secretary of Defense designates as the termination date of that 4 
operation; provided, that any person receiving an actual service-5 
incurred injury or disability while engaged in such service shall be 6 
classed as a veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 7 
days' service as herein provided; and 8 
 (15) Operation "Iraqi Freedom", on or after the date the President 9 
of the United States or the United States Secretary of Defense 10 
designates as the inception date of that operation, who served in 11 
Iraq or in another area in the region in direct support of that 12 
operation for a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 13 
14 days in such active service commencing on or before the date the 14 
President of the United States or the United States Secretary of 15 
Defense designates as the termination date of that operation; 16 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 17 
or disability while engaged in such service shall be classed as a 18 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 19 
service as herein provided; and 20 
 (16) In a campaign or expedition for which a medal has been 21 
authorized and recognized by the Veterans’ Preference Act of 1944, 22 
as amended and codified under Title 5, United States Code, for civil 23 
service preference and which has been awarded to the veteran, 24 
 c. "War service" means service by a veteran in any war or 25 
conflict described in this chapter during the periods specified].  26 
(cf:  P.L.2021, c.429, s.1) 27 
 28 
 2. N.J.S.11A:5-3 is amended to read as follows: 29 
 11A:5-3.  Parent and spouse of veteran who has died in service.  30 
A parent and spouse of any veteran who died while in, and as a 31 
result of, federal active service and who would have qualified under 32 
this chapter as a veteran, shall be entitled to a disabled veterans' 33 
preference.  Where both a parent and spouse survive, the exercise of 34 
the preference by one shall suspend the right of any other so long as 35 
the first individual who exercises preference remains in the employ 36 
of the State or any political subdivision operating under the 37 
provisions of this title. 38 
(cf:  N.J.S.11A:5-3) 39 
 40 
 3. N.J.S.11A:5-11 is amended to read as follows: 41 
 11A:5-11. A veteran with any physical disability caused by 42 
[wounds or injuries received in the line of duty in the military or 43 
naval forces of the United States during war service set forth in 44 
N.J.S.11A:5-1] an injury, disease or disability incurred as a result 45 
of federal active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the 46 
United States or a Reserve component thereof, shall not be 47 
discriminated against in an examination, classification or 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
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appointment because of the disability, unless this disability, in the 1 
opinion of the Civil Service Commission, would incapacitate the 2 
veteran from properly performing the duties of the office, position 3 
or employment for which applied.  4 
(cf:  P.L.2017, c.131, s.9) 5 
 6 
 4. N.J.S.18A:66-2 is amended to read as follows:  7 
 18A:66-2.  As used in this article: 8 
 a. "Accumulated deductions" means the sum of all the 9 
amounts, deducted from the compensation of a member or 10 
contributed by or in behalf of the member, including interest 11 
credited to January 1, 1956, standing to the credit of the member's 12 
individual account in the annuity savings fund. 13 
 b. "Annuity" means payments for life derived from the 14 
accumulated deductions of a member as provided in this article. 15 
 c. "Beneficiary" means any person receiving a retirement 16 
allowance or other benefit as provided in this article. 17 
 d. (1) "Compensation" means the contractual salary, for 18 
services as a teacher as defined in this article, which is in 19 
accordance with established salary policies of the member's 20 
employer for all employees in the same position but shall not 21 
include individual salary adjustments which are granted primarily in 22 
anticipation of the member's retirement or additional remuneration 23 
for performing temporary or extracurricular duties beyond the 24 
regular school day or the regular school year. 25 
 (2) In the case of a person who becomes a member of the 26 
retirement system on or after July 1, 2007, "compensation" means 27 
the amount of the contractual salary equivalent to the annual 28 
maximum wage contribution base for Social Security, pursuant to 29 
the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, for services as a teacher as 30 
defined in this article, which is in accordance with established 31 
salary policies of the member's employer for all employees in the 32 
same position but shall not include individual salary adjustments 33 
which are granted primarily in anticipation of the member's 34 
retirement or additional remuneration for performing temporary or 35 
extracurricular duties beyond the regular school day or the regular 36 
school year. This paragraph shall not apply to a person who at the 37 
time of enrollment in the retirement system on or after July 1, 2007 38 
transfers service credit from another State-administered retirement 39 
system pursuant to N.J.S.18A:66-15.1, but shall apply to a former 40 
member of the retirement system who has been granted a retirement 41 
allowance and is reenrolled in the retirement system on or after July 42 
1, 2007 pursuant to N.J.S.18A:66-53.2 after becoming employed 43 
again in a position that makes the person eligible to be a member of 44 
the retirement system. 45 
 For the period of July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011, 46 
"contractual salary" for State employees shall include wage 47 
increases under a collective negotiations agreement notwithstanding 48   
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that, by amendment to that collective negotiations agreement, the 1 
effective date of the contractual increase has been deferred.  For the 2 
purpose of this paragraph, "State employee" means an employee in 3 
the Executive Branch of State government of New Jersey. 4 
 e. "Employer" means the State, the board of education or any 5 
educational institution or agency of or within the State by which a 6 
teacher is paid. 7 
 f. (1) "Final compensation" means the average annual 8 
compensation for which contributions are made for the three years 9 
of creditable service in New Jersey immediately preceding the 10 
member's retirement or death, or it shall mean the average annual 11 
compensation for New Jersey service for which contributions are 12 
made during any three fiscal years of his or her membership 13 
providing the largest possible benefit to the member or the 14 
member's beneficiary. 15 
 (2) In the case of a person who becomes a member of the 16 
retirement system on or after the effective date of P.L.2010, c.1, 17 
"final compensation" means the average annual compensation for 18 
which contributions are made for the five years of creditable service 19 
in New Jersey immediately preceding the member's retirement or 20 
death, or it shall mean the average annual compensation for New 21 
Jersey service for which contributions are made during any five 22 
fiscal years of his or her membership providing the largest possible 23 
benefit to the member or the member's beneficiary. 24 
 g. "Fiscal year" means any year commencing with July 1, and 25 
ending with June 30, next following. 26 
 h. "Pension" means payments for life derived from 27 
appropriations made by the State or employers to the Teachers' 28 
Pension and Annuity Fund. 29 
 i. "Annuity reserve" means the present value of all payments 30 
to be made on account of any annuity or benefit in lieu of an 31 
annuity, granted under the provisions of this article, computed on 32 
the basis of such mortality tables recommended by the actuary as 33 
the board of trustees adopts, with regular interest. 34 
 j. "Pension reserve" means the present value of all payments to 35 
be made on account of any pension or benefit in lieu of a pension 36 
granted to a member from the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund, 37 
computed on the basis of such mortality tables recommended by the 38 
actuary as the board of trustees adopts, with regular interest. 39 
 k. "Present-entrant" means any member of the Teachers' 40 
Pension and Annuity Fund who had established status as a "present-41 
entrant member" of said fund prior to January 1, 1956. 42 
 l. "Rate of contribution initially certified" means the rate of 43 
contribution certified by the retirement system in accordance with 44 
N.J.S.18A:66-29. 45 
 m. "Regular interest" shall mean interest as determined by the 46 
State Treasurer, after consultation with the Directors of the 47 
Divisions of Investment and Pensions, the board of trustees and the 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
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actuary. It shall bear a reasonable relationship to the percentage rate 1 
of earnings on investments based on the market value of assets but 2 
shall not exceed the assumed percentage rate of increase applied to 3 
salaries plus 3%, provided however that the board of trustees shall 4 
not set the average percentage rate of increase applied to salaries 5 
below 6%. 6 
 n. "Retirement allowance" means the pension plus the annuity. 7 
 o. "School service" means any service as a "teacher" as defined 8 
in this section. 9 
 p. "Teacher" means any regular teacher, special teacher, 10 
helping teacher, teacher clerk, principal, vice-principal, supervisor, 11 
supervising principal, director, superintendent, city superintendent, 12 
assistant city superintendent, county superintendent, State 13 
Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner of Education, members 14 
of the State Department of Education who are certificated, 15 
unclassified professional staff and other members of the teaching or 16 
professional staff of any class, public school, renaissance school 17 
project established pursuant to P.L.2011, c.176 (C.18A:36C-1 et 18 
seq.) upon commencement of employment, high school, normal 19 
school, model school, training school, vocational school, truant 20 
reformatory school, or parental school, and of any and all classes or 21 
schools within the State conducted under the order and 22 
superintendence, and wholly or partly at the expense of the State 23 
Board of Education, of a duly elected or appointed board of 24 
education, board of school directors, or board of trustees of the 25 
State or of any school district or normal school district thereof, and 26 
any persons under contract or engagement to perform one or more 27 
of these functions. It shall also mean any person who serves, while 28 
on an approved leave of absence from regular duties as a teacher, as 29 
an officer of a local, county or State labor organization which 30 
represents, or is affiliated with an organization which represents, 31 
teachers as defined in this subsection. No person shall be deemed a 32 
teacher within the meaning of this article who is a substitute 33 
teacher. In all cases of doubt the board of trustees shall determine 34 
whether any person is a teacher as defined in this article. 35 
 q. "Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund," hereinafter referred 36 
to as the "retirement system" or "system," is the corporate name of 37 
the arrangement for the payment of retirement allowances and other 38 
benefits under the provisions of this article, including the several 39 
funds placed under said system. By that name all its business shall 40 
be transacted, its funds invested, warrants for money drawn, and 41 
payments made and all of its cash and securities and other property 42 
held. 43 
 r. "Veteran" means any [honorably discharged officer, soldier, 44 
sailor, airman, marine or nurse who served in any Army, Air Force 45 
or Navy of the Allies of the United States in World War I between 46 
July 14, 1914, and November 11, 1918, or who served in any Army, 47 
Air Force or Navy of the Allies of the United States in World War 48   
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II, between September 1, 1939, and September 2, 1945, and who 1 
was inducted into such service through voluntary enlistment, and 2 
was a citizen of the United States at the time of such enlistment, and 3 
who did not, during or by reason of such service, renounce or lose 4 
United States citizenship, and any officer, soldier, sailor, marine, 5 
airman, nurse or army field clerk who has served in the active 6 
military or naval service of the United and has or shall be 7 
discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than 8 
dishonorable, in any of the following wars, uprisings, insurrections, 9 
expeditions or emergencies,] person honorably discharged or 10 
released under honorable circumstances from federal active service 11 
in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve 12 
component thereof and who has presented to the [retirement 13 
system] Adjutant General of the Department of Military and 14 
Veterans Affairs evidence of such record of service in form and 15 
content satisfactory to [said retirement system: 16 
 (1) The Indian wars and uprisings during any of the periods 17 
recognized by the War Department of the United States as periods 18 
of active hostility; 19 
 (2) The Spanish-American War between April 20, 1898, and 20 
April 11, 1899; 21 
 (3) The Philippine insurrections and expeditions during the 22 
periods recognized by the War Department of the United States as 23 
of active hostility from February 4, 1899, to the end of 1913; 24 
 (4) The Peking relief expedition between June 20, 1900, and 25 
May 27, 1902; 26 
 (5) The army of Cuban occupation between July 18, 1898, and 27 
May 20, 1902; 28 
 (6) The army of Cuban pacification between October 6, 1906, 29 
and April 1, 1909; 30 
 (7) The Mexican punitive expedition between March 14, 1916, 31 
and February 7, 1917; 32 
 (8) The Mexican border patrol, having actually participated in 33 
engagements against Mexicans between April 12, 1911, and June 34 
16, 1919; 35 
 (9) World War I, between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 36 
1918; 37 
 (10) World War II, between September 16, 1940, and December 38 
31, 1946, who shall have served at least 90 days in such active 39 
service, exclusive of any period of assignment (1) for a course of 40 
education or training under the Army Specialized Training Program 41 
or the Navy College Training Program, which course was a 42 
continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to completion, or 43 
(2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service academies, any 44 
part of which 90 days was served between said dates; provided that 45 
any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or disability 46 
shall be classed as a veteran, whether or not that person has 47 
completed the 90-day service as herein provided; 48   
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 (11) Korean conflict on or after June 23, 1950, and on or prior to 1 
January 31, 1955, who shall have served at least 90 days in such 2 
active service, exclusive of any period of assignment (1) for a 3 
course of education or training under the Army Specialized 4 
Training Program or the Navy College Training Program, which 5 
course was a continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to 6 
completion, or (2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service 7 
academies, any part of which 90 days was served between said 8 
dates; provided that any person receiving an actual service-incurred 9 
injury or disability shall be classed as a veteran, whether or not that 10 
person has completed the 90-day service as herein provided; and 11 
provided further that any member classed as a veteran pursuant to 12 
this subsection prior to August 1, 1966, shall continue to be classed 13 
as a veteran, whether or not that person completed the 90-day 14 
service between said dates as herein provided; 15 
 (12) Lebanon crisis, on or after July 1, 1958, who has served in 16 
Lebanon or on board any ship actively engaged in patrolling the 17 
territorial waters of that nation for a period, continuous or in the 18 
aggregate, of at least 14 days commencing on or before November 19 
1, 1958 or the date of termination of that conflict, as proclaimed by 20 
the President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 21 
termination is the latest, in such active service; provided, that any 22 
person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or disability shall 23 
be classed as a veteran whether or not that person has completed the 24 
14 days' service as herein provided; 25 
 (13) Vietnam conflict, on or after December 31, 1960, and on or 26 
prior to May 7, 1975, who shall have served at least 90 days in such 27 
active service, exclusive of any period of assignment (1) for a 28 
course of education or training under the Army Specialized 29 
Training Program or the Navy College Training Program, which 30 
course was a continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to 31 
completion, or (2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service 32 
academies, any part of which 90 days was served between said 33 
dates; and exclusive of any service performed pursuant to the 34 
provisions of section 511(d) of Title 10, United States Code, 35 
pursuant to an enlistment in the Army National Guard or as a 36 
reserve for service in the Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Air Force 37 
Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve; provided 38 
that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or 39 
disability shall be classed as a veteran, whether or not that person 40 
has completed the 90-day service as herein provided; 41 
 (14) Lebanon peacekeeping mission, on or after September 26, 42 
1982, who has served in Lebanon or on board any ship actively 43 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 44 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 45 
commencing on or before December 1, 1987 or the date of 46 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 47 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
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latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 1 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 2 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 3 
service as herein provided; 4 
 (15) Grenada peacekeeping mission, on or after October 23, 5 
1983, who has served in Grenada or on board any ship actively 6 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 7 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 8 
commencing on or before November 21, 1983 or the date of 9 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 10 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 11 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 12 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 13 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 14 
service as herein provided; 15 
 (16) Panama peacekeeping mission, on or after December 20, 16 
1989 or the date of inception of that mission, as proclaimed by the 17 
President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 18 
inception is earliest, who has served in Panama or on board any ship 19 
actively engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for 20 
a period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 21 
commencing on or before January 31, 1990 or the date of 22 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 23 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 24 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 25 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 26 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 27 
service as herein provided; 28 
 (17) Operation "Desert Shield/Desert Storm" mission in the 29 
Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf, on or after August 2, 1990 30 
or the date of inception of that operation, as proclaimed by the 31 
President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 32 
inception is earliest, who has served in the Arabian peninsula or on 33 
board any ship actively engaged in patrolling the Persian Gulf for a 34 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 35 
commencing on or before the date of termination of that mission, as 36 
proclaimed by the President of the United States or Congress, 37 
whichever date of termination is the latest, in such active service; 38 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 39 
or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 40 
has completed the 14 days' service as herein provided; 41 
 (18) Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch, 42 
on or after August 27, 1992, or the date of inception of that 43 
operation, as proclaimed by the President of the United States, 44 
Congress or United States Secretary of Defense, whichever date of 45 
inception is earliest, who served in the theater of operation, 46 
including in the Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf, and in 47 
direct support of that operation for a period, continuously or in the 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
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aggregate, of at least 14 days in such active service, commencing on 1 
or before the date of termination of the operation, as proclaimed by 2 
the President of the United States, Congress or United States 3 
Secretary of Defense, whichever date of termination is latest; 4 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 5 
or disability while engaged in such service shall be classed as a 6 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 7 
service as herein provided; 8 
 (19) Operation "Restore Hope" in Somalia, on or after December 9 
5, 1992, or the date of inception of that operation as proclaimed by 10 
the President of the United States or Congress, whichever date is 11 
earliest, who has served in Somalia or on board any ship actively 12 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 13 
period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days in such 14 
active service commencing on or before March 31, 1994; provided 15 
that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or 16 
disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 17 
has completed the 14-day service as herein provided; 18 
 (20) Operations "Joint Endeavor" and "Joint Guard" in the 19 
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on or after November 20, 20 
1995, who served in such active service in direct support of one or 21 
both of the operations for at least 14 days, continuously or in the 22 
aggregate, commencing on or before June 20, 1998, and (1) was 23 
deployed in that nation or in another area in the region, or (2) was 24 
on board a United States naval vessel operating in the Adriatic Sea, 25 
or (3) operated in airspace above the Republic of Bosnia and 26 
Herzegovina; provided that any person receiving an actual service-27 
incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or 28 
not that person completed the 14-day service requirement; 29 
 (21) Operation "Enduring Freedom", on or after September 11, 30 
2001, who served in a theater of operation and in direct support of 31 
that operation for a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at 32 
least 14 days in such active service commencing on or before the 33 
date the President of the United States or the United States 34 
Secretary of Defense designates as the termination date of that 35 
operation; provided, that any person receiving an actual service-36 
incurred injury or disability while engaged in such service shall be 37 
classed as a veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 38 
days' service as herein provided; and 39 
 (22) Operation "Iraqi Freedom", on or after the date the President 40 
of the United States or the United States Secretary of Defense 41 
designates as the inception date of that operation, who served in 42 
Iraq or in another area in the region in direct support of that 43 
operation for a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 44 
14 days in such active service commencing on or before the date the 45 
President of the United States or the United States Secretary of 46 
Defense designates as the termination date of that operation; 47 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
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or disability while engaged in such service shall be classed as a 1 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 2 
service as herein provided] the Adjutant General. 3 
 ["Veteran" also means any honorably discharged member of the 4 
American Merchant Marine who served during World War II and is 5 
declared by the United States Department of Defense to be eligible 6 
for federal veterans' benefits.] 7 
 s. "Child" means a deceased member's unmarried child either 8 
(a) under the age of 18 or (b) of any age who, at the time of the 9 
member's death, is disabled because of mental retardation or 10 
physical incapacity, is unable to do any substantial, gainful work 11 
because of the impairment and the impairment has lasted or can be 12 
expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months, 13 
as affirmed by the medical board. 14 
 t. (1) "Widower," for employees of the State, means the man to 15 
whom a member was married, or a domestic partner as defined in 16 
section 3 of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-3), at least five years before 17 
the date of her death and to whom she continued to be married or a 18 
domestic partner until the date of her death and who was receiving 19 
at least one-half of his support from the member in the 12-month 20 
period immediately preceding the member's death or the accident 21 
which was the direct cause of the member's death. The dependency 22 
of such a widower will be considered terminated by marriage of, or 23 
establishment of a domestic partnership by, the widower subsequent 24 
to the death of the member. In the event of the payment of an 25 
accidental death benefit, the five-year qualification shall be waived. 26 
 (2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this subsection, 27 
"widower," for employees of public employers other than the State, 28 
means the man to whom a member was married at least five years 29 
before the date of her death and to whom she continued to be 30 
married until the date of her death and who was receiving at least 31 
one-half of his support from the member in the 12-month period 32 
immediately preceding the member's death or the accident which 33 
was the direct cause of the member's death. The dependency of such 34 
a widower shall be considered terminated by marriage of the 35 
widower subsequent to the death of the member. In the event of the 36 
payment of an accidental death benefit, the five-year qualification 37 
shall be waived. 38 
 (3) A public employer other than the State may adopt a 39 
resolution providing that the term "widower" as defined in 40 
paragraph (2) of this subsection shall include domestic partners as 41 
provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection. 42 
 u. (1)  "Widow," for employees of the State, means the woman 43 
to whom a member was married, or a domestic partner as defined in 44 
section 3 of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-3), at least five years before 45 
the date of his death and to whom he continued to be married or a 46 
domestic partner until the date of his death and who was receiving 47 
at least one-half of her support from the member in the 12-month 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
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period immediately preceding the member's death or the accident 1 
which was the direct cause of the member's death. The dependency 2 
of such a widow will be considered terminated by the marriage of, 3 
or establishment of a domestic partnership by, the widow 4 
subsequent to the member's death. In the event of the payment of an 5 
accidental death benefit, the five-year qualification shall be waived. 6 
 (2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this subsection, 7 
"widow," for employees of public employers other than the State, 8 
means the woman to whom a member was married at least five 9 
years before the date of his death and to whom he continued to be 10 
married until the date of his death and who was receiving at least 11 
one-half of her support from the member in the 12-month period 12 
immediately preceding the member's death or the accident which 13 
was the direct cause of the member's death. The dependency of such 14 
a widow shall be considered terminated by the marriage of the 15 
widow subsequent to the member's death. In the event of the 16 
payment of an accidental death benefit, the five-year qualification 17 
shall be waived. 18 
 (3) A public employer other than the State may adopt a 19 
resolution providing that the term "widower" as defined in 20 
paragraph (2) of this subsection shall include domestic partners as 21 
provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection. 22 
 v. "Parent" means the parent of a member who was receiving at 23 
least one-half of the parent's support from the member in the 12-24 
month period immediately preceding the member's death or the 25 
accident which was the direct cause of the member's death. The 26 
dependency of such a parent will be considered terminated by 27 
marriage of the parent subsequent to the death of the member. 28 
 w. "Medical board" means the board of physicians provided for 29 
in N.J.S.18A:66-56. 30 
 x. (1)  "Spouse," for employees of the State, means the husband 31 
or wife, or domestic partner as defined in section 3 of P.L.2003, 32 
c.246 (C.26:8A-3), of a member. 33 
 (2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection, 34 
"spouse," for employees of public employers other than the State, 35 
means the husband or wife of a member. 36 
 (3) A public employer other than the State may adopt a 37 
resolution providing that the term "spouse" as defined in paragraph 38 
(2) of this subsection shall include domestic partners as provided in 39 
paragraph (1) of this subsection. 40 
(cf:  P.L.2018, c.129, s.1) 41 
 42 
 5. N.J.S.18A:66-13 is amended to read as follows: 43 
 18A:66-13.  Prior service credit. A member may file a detailed 44 
statement of:   45 
 a. school service and service in a similar capacity in other states 46 
and in schools within and outside the United States operated by a 47 
department of the United States Government for the instruction of 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
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the children of United States Government officers and employees, 1 
or  2 
 b. other public employment in other states or with the United 3 
States Government which would be eligible for credit in a State-4 
administered retirement system if the employment was with a 5 
public employer in this State, or  6 
 c. [military] federal active service in any branch of the Armed 7 
Forces of the United States or in a Reserve component thereof, 8 
rendered prior to becoming a member, for which the member 9 
desires credit, and of such other facts as the retirement system may 10 
require. The member may purchase credit for all or a portion of the 11 
service evidenced in the statement up to the nearest number of years 12 
and months, but not exceeding 10 years, provided however, that a 13 
member purchasing that maximum credit may purchase up to five 14 
additional years [for additional military] of federal active service 15 
qualifying the member as a veteran as defined in N.J.S.18A:66-2 in 16 
any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve 17 
component thereof. No application shall be accepted for the 18 
purchase of credit for [such]: (1) a period of service if, at the time 19 
of application, the member has a vested right to retirement benefits 20 
in another retirement system based in whole or in part upon that 21 
service; or (2) a period of federal active service in any branch of a 22 
Reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States that is 23 
concurrent with other service described in subsections a. and b. of 24 
this section.  25 
 The member may purchase credit for the service by paying into 26 
the annuity savings fund the amount required by applying the 27 
factor, supplied by the actuary as being applicable to the member's 28 
age at the time of the purchase, to the member's salary at that time, 29 
or to the highest annual compensation for service in this State for 30 
which contributions were made during any prior fiscal year of 31 
membership, whichever is greater.  The purchase may be made in 32 
regular installments, equal to at least one-half the full normal 33 
contribution to the retirement system, over a maximum period of 10 34 
years.  Neither the State nor the employer of a member who applies 35 
to purchase credit for public employment with the United States 36 
Government pursuant to subsection b. of this section or for 37 
[military] federal active service pursuant to subsection c. of this 38 
section shall be liable for any payment to the retirement system on 39 
behalf of the member for the purchase of this credit.   40 
 Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, a 41 
member shall not be liable for any costs associated with the 42 
financing of pension adjustment benefits and health care benefits 43 
for retirees when purchasing credit for school service, public 44 
employment in other states or with the United States Government, 45 
or [military] federal active service in any branch of the Armed 46 
Forces of the United States or a Reserve component thereof.   47   
A3161 TUCKER 
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 Any member electing to purchase the service who retires prior to 1 
completing payments as agreed with the retirement system will 2 
receive pro rata credit for service purchased prior to the date of 3 
retirement, but if the member so elects at the time of retirement, the 4 
member may make the additional lump sum payment required at 5 
that time to provide full credit.   6 
 Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 7 
service credit established in the retirement system by a member 8 
through purchase in accordance with this section, which purchase 9 
was made by an application submitted on or after the effective date 10 
of P.L.2008, c.89, except a purchase for [military] federal active 11 
service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a 12 
Reserve component thereof, shall not be eligible for consideration 13 
when service is used to determine the qualification of the member 14 
for any health care benefits coverage paid, in whole or in part, by a 15 
public employer after the member's retirement.   16 
(cf:  P.L.2008, c.89, s.3) 17 
 18 
 6. Section 6 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-6) is amended to read 19 
as follows: 20 
 6. As used in this act: 21 
 a. "Accumulated deductions" means the sum of all the 22 
amounts, deducted from the compensation of a member or 23 
contributed by or on behalf of the member, standing to the credit of 24 
the member's individual account in the annuity savings fund. 25 
 b. "Annuity" means payments for life derived from the 26 
accumulated deductions of a member as provided in this act. 27 
 c. "Annuity reserve" means the present value of all payments 28 
to be made on account of any annuity or benefit in lieu of an 29 
annuity, granted under the provisions of this act, computed on the 30 
basis of such mortality tables recommended by the actuary as the 31 
board of trustees adopts, with regular interest. 32 
 d. "Beneficiary" means any person receiving a retirement 33 
allowance or other benefit as provided in this act. 34 
 e. "Child" means a deceased member's unmarried child either 35 
(1) under the age of 18 or (2) of any age who, at the time of the 36 
member's death, is disabled because of an intellectual disability or 37 
physical incapacity, is unable to do any substantial, gainful work 38 
because of the impairment and the impairment has lasted or can be 39 
expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months, 40 
as affirmed by the medical board. 41 
 f. "Parent" shall mean the parent of a member who was 42 
receiving at least 1/2 of the parent's support from the member in the 43 
12-month period immediately preceding the member's death or the 44 
accident which was the direct cause of the member's death. The 45 
dependency of such a parent will be considered terminated by 46 
marriage of the parent subsequent to the death of the member. 47   
A3161 TUCKER 
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 g. (1) "Widower," for employees of the State, means the man to 1 
whom a member was married, or a domestic partner as defined in 2 
section 3 of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-3), at least five years before 3 
the date of her death and to whom she continued to be married or a 4 
domestic partner until the date of her death and who was receiving 5 
at least 1/2 of his support from the member in the 12-month period 6 
immediately preceding the member's death or the accident which 7 
was the direct cause of the member's death. The dependency of such 8 
a widower will be considered terminated by marriage of, or 9 
establishment of a domestic partnership by, the widower subsequent 10 
to the death of the member. In the event of the payment of an 11 
accidental death benefit, the five-year qualification shall be waived. 12 
 (2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this subsection, 13 
"widower," for employees of public employers other than the State, 14 
means the man to whom a member was married at least five years 15 
before the date of her death and to whom she continued to be 16 
married until the date of her death and who was receiving at least 17 
1/2 of his support from the member in the 12-month period 18 
immediately preceding the member's death or the accident which 19 
was the direct cause of the member's death. The dependency of such 20 
a widower shall be considered terminated by marriage of the 21 
widower subsequent to the death of the member. In the event of the 22 
payment of an accidental death benefit, the five-year qualification 23 
shall be waived. 24 
 (3) A public employer other than the State may adopt a 25 
resolution providing that the term "widower" as defined in 26 
paragraph (2) of this subsection shall include domestic partners as 27 
provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection. 28 
 h. (1) "Final compensation" means the average annual 29 
compensation for which contributions are made for the three years 30 
of creditable service in New Jersey immediately preceding the 31 
member's retirement or death, or it shall mean the average annual 32 
compensation for New Jersey service for which contributions are 33 
made during any three fiscal years of his or her membership 34 
providing the largest possible benefit to the member or the 35 
member's beneficiary. 36 
 (2) In the case of a person who becomes a member of the 37 
retirement system on or after the effective date of P.L.2010, c.1, 38 
"final compensation" means the average annual compensation for 39 
which contributions are made for the five years of creditable service 40 
in New Jersey immediately preceding the member's retirement or 41 
death, or it shall mean the average annual compensation for New 42 
Jersey service for which contributions are made during any five 43 
fiscal years of his or her membership providing the largest possible 44 
benefit to the member or the member's beneficiary. 45 
 i. "Fiscal year" means any year commencing with July 1 and 46 
ending with June 30 next following. 47   
A3161 TUCKER 
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 j. "Medical board" shall mean the board of physicians 1 
provided for in section 17 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-17). 2 
 k. "Pension" means payments for life derived from 3 
appropriations made by the employer as provided in this act. 4 
 l. "Pension reserve" means the present value of all payments to 5 
be made on account of any pension or benefit in lieu of a pension 6 
granted under the provisions of this act, computed on the basis of 7 
such mortality tables recommended by the actuary as the board of 8 
trustees adopts, with regular interest. 9 
 m. "Public Employees' Retirement System of New Jersey," 10 
hereinafter referred to as the "retirement system" or "system," is the 11 
corporate name of the arrangement for the payment of retirement 12 
allowances and other benefits under the provisions of this act 13 
including the several funds placed under said system. By that name 14 
all of its business shall be transacted, its funds invested, warrants 15 
for money drawn, and payments made and all of its cash and 16 
securities and other property held. 17 
 n. "Regular interest" shall mean interest as determined by the 18 
State Treasurer, after consultation with the Directors of the 19 
Divisions of Investment and Pensions, the board of trustees and the 20 
actuary. It shall bear a reasonable relationship to the percentage rate 21 
of earnings on investments based on the market value of the assets 22 
but shall not exceed the assumed percentage rate of increase applied 23 
to salaries plus 3%, provided however that the board of trustees 24 
shall not set the average percentage rate of increase applied to 25 
salaries below 6%. 26 
 o. "Retirement allowance" means the pension plus the annuity. 27 
 p. "Veteran" means any [honorably discharged officer, soldier, 28 
sailor, airman, marine or nurse who served in any Army, Air Force 29 
or Navy of the Allies of the United States in World War I, between 30 
July 14, 1914, and November 11, 1918, or who served in any Army, 31 
Air Force or Navy of the Allies of the United States in World War 32 
II, between September 1, 1939, and September 2, 1945, and who 33 
was inducted into such service through voluntary enlistment, and 34 
was a citizen of the United States at the time of such enlistment, and 35 
who did not, during or by reason of such service, renounce or lose 36 
United States citizenship, and any officer, soldier, sailor, marine, 37 
airman, nurse or army field clerk, who has served in the active 38 
military or naval service of the United States and has or shall be 39 
discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than 40 
dishonorable, in any of the following wars, uprisings, insurrections, 41 
expeditions, or emergencies,] person honorably discharged or 42 
released under honorable circumstances from federal active service 43 
in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve 44 
component thereof and who has presented to the [retirement 45 
system] Adjutant General of the Department of Military and 46   
A3161 TUCKER 
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Veterans Affairs evidence of such record of service in form and 1 
content satisfactory to [said retirement system: 2 
 (1) The Indian wars and uprisings during any of the periods 3 
recognized by the War Department of the United States as periods 4 
of active hostility; 5 
 (2) The Spanish-American War between April 20, 1898, and 6 
April 11, 1899; 7 
 (3) The Philippine insurrections and expeditions during the 8 
periods recognized by the War Department of the United States as 9 
of active hostility from February 4, 1899, to the end of 1913; 10 
 (4) The Peking relief expedition between June 20, 1900, and 11 
May 27, 1902; 12 
 (5) The army of Cuban occupation between July 18, 1898, and 13 
May 20, 1902; 14 
 (6) The army of Cuban pacification between October 6, 1906, 15 
and April 1, 1909; 16 
 (7) The Mexican punitive expedition between March 14, 1916, 17 
and February 7, 1917; 18 
 (8) The Mexican border patrol, having actually participated in 19 
engagements against Mexicans between April 12, 1911, and June 20 
16, 1919; 21 
 (9) World War I, between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 22 
1918; 23 
 (10) World War II, between September 16, 1940, and December 24 
31, 1946, who shall have served at least 90 days in such active 25 
service, exclusive of any period of assignment (1) for a course of 26 
education or training under the Army Specialized Training Program 27 
or the Navy College Training Program which course was a 28 
continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to completion, or 29 
(2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service academies any 30 
part of which 90 days was served between said dates; provided, that 31 
any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or disability 32 
shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person has 33 
completed the 90-day service as herein provided; 34 
 (11) Korean conflict on or after June 23, 1950, and on or prior to 35 
January 31, 1955, who shall have served at least 90 days in such 36 
active service, exclusive of any period of assignment (1) for a 37 
course of education or training under the Army Specialized 38 
Training Program or the Navy College Training Program which 39 
course was a continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to 40 
completion, or (2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service 41 
academies, any part of which 90 days was served between said 42 
dates; provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred 43 
injury or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that 44 
person has completed the 90-day service as herein provided; and 45 
provided further, that any member classed as a veteran pursuant to 46 
this paragraph prior to August 1, 1966, shall continue to be classed 47   
A3161 TUCKER 
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as a veteran whether or not that person completed the 90-day 1 
service between said dates as herein provided; 2 
 (12) Lebanon crisis, on or after July 1, 1958, who has served in 3 
Lebanon or on board any ship actively engaged in patrolling the 4 
territorial waters of that nation for a period, continuous or in the 5 
aggregate, of at least 14 days commencing on or before November 6 
1, 1958 or the date of termination of that conflict, as proclaimed by 7 
the President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 8 
termination is the latest, in such active service; provided, that any 9 
person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or disability shall 10 
be classed as a veteran whether or not that person has completed the 11 
14 days' service as herein provided; 12 
 (13) Vietnam conflict on or after December 31, 1960, and on or 13 
prior to May 7, 1975, who shall have served at least 90 days in such 14 
active service, exclusive of any period of assignment (1) for a 15 
course of education or training under the Army Specialized 16 
Training Program or the Navy College Training Program which 17 
course was a continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to 18 
completion, or (2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service 19 
academies, any part of which 90 days was served between said 20 
dates; and exclusive of any service performed pursuant to the 21 
provisions of section 511(d) of Title 10, United States Code, 22 
pursuant to an enlistment in the Army National Guard or as a 23 
reserve for service in the Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Air Force 24 
Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve; provided, 25 
that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or 26 
disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 27 
has completed the 90 days' service as herein provided; 28 
 (14) Lebanon peacekeeping mission, on or after September 26, 29 
1982, who has served in Lebanon or on board any ship actively 30 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 31 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 32 
commencing on or before December 1, 1987 or the date of 33 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 34 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 35 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 36 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 37 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 38 
service as herein provided; 39 
 (15) Grenada peacekeeping mission, on or after October 23, 40 
1983, who has served in Grenada or on board any ship actively 41 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 42 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 43 
commencing on or before November 21, 1983 or the date of 44 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 45 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 46 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 47 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
22 
 
 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 1 
service as herein provided; 2 
 (16) Panama peacekeeping mission, on or after December 20, 3 
1989 or the date of inception of that mission, as proclaimed by the 4 
President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 5 
inception is earliest, who has served in Panama or on board any ship 6 
actively engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for 7 
a period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 8 
commencing on or before January 31, 1990 or the date of 9 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 10 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 11 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 12 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 13 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 14 
service as herein provided; 15 
 (17) Operation "Desert Shield/Desert Storm" mission in the 16 
Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf, on or after August 2, 1990 17 
or the date of inception of that operation, as proclaimed by the 18 
President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 19 
inception is earliest, who has served in the Arabian peninsula or on 20 
board any ship actively engaged in patrolling the Persian Gulf for a 21 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 22 
commencing on or before the date of termination of that mission, as 23 
proclaimed by the President of the United States or Congress, 24 
whichever date of termination is the latest, in such active service; 25 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 26 
or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 27 
has completed the 14 days' service as herein provided; 28 
 (18) Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch, 29 
on or after August 27, 1992, or the date of inception of that 30 
operation, as proclaimed by the President of the United States, 31 
Congress or United States Secretary of Defense, whichever date of 32 
inception is earliest, who served in the theater of operation, 33 
including in the Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf, and in 34 
direct support of that operation for a period, continuously or in the 35 
aggregate, of at least 14 days in such active service, commencing on 36 
or before the date of termination of that operation, as proclaimed by 37 
the President of the United States, Congress or United States 38 
Secretary of Defense, whichever date of termination is the latest; 39 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 40 
or disability while engaged in such service shall be classed as a 41 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 42 
service as herein provided; 43 
 (19) Operation "Restore Hope" in Somalia, on or after December 44 
5, 1992, or the date of inception of that operation as proclaimed by 45 
the President of the United States or Congress, whichever date is 46 
earliest, who has served in Somalia or on board any ship actively 47 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
23 
 
 
period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days in such 1 
active service commencing on or before March 31, 1994; provided 2 
that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or 3 
disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 4 
has completed the 14-day service as herein provided; 5 
 (20) Operations "Joint Endeavor" and "Joint Guard" in the 6 
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on or after November 20, 7 
1995, who served in such active service in direct support of one or 8 
both of the operations for at least 14 days, continuously or in the 9 
aggregate, commencing on or before June 20, 1998 and (1) was 10 
deployed in that nation or in another area in the region, or (2) was 11 
on board a United States naval vessel operating in the Adriatic Sea, 12 
or (3) operated in airspace above the Republic of Bosnia and 13 
Herzegovina; provided that any person receiving an actual service-14 
incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or 15 
not that person completed the 14-day service requirement; 16 
 (21) Operation "Enduring Freedom", on or after September 11, 17 
2001, who served in a theater of operation and in direct support of 18 
that operation for a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at 19 
least 14 days in such active service commencing on or before the 20 
date the President of the United States or the United States 21 
Secretary of Defense designates as the termination date of that 22 
operation; provided, that any person receiving an actual service-23 
incurred injury or disability while engaged in such service shall be 24 
classed as a veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 25 
days' service as herein provided; and 26 
 (22) Operation "Iraqi Freedom", on or after the date the President 27 
of the United States or the United States Secretary of Defense 28 
designates as the inception date of that operation, who served in 29 
Iraq or in another area in the region in direct support of that 30 
operation for a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 31 
14 days in such active service commencing on or before the date the 32 
President of the United States or the United States Secretary of 33 
Defense designates as the termination date of that operation; 34 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 35 
or disability while engaged in such service shall be classed as a 36 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 37 
service as herein provided] the Adjutant General.   38 
 ["Veteran" also means any honorably discharged member of the 39 
American Merchant Marine who served during World War II and is 40 
declared by the United States Department of Defense to be eligible 41 
for federal veterans' benefits.] 42 
 q. (1) "Widow," for employees of the State, means the woman 43 
to whom a member was married, or a domestic partner as defined in 44 
section 3 of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-3), at least five years before 45 
the date of his death and to whom he continued to be married or a 46 
domestic partner until the date of his death and who was receiving 47 
at least 1/2 of her support from the member in the 12-month period 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
24 
 
 
immediately preceding the member's death or the accident which 1 
was the direct cause of the member's death. The dependency of such 2 
a widow will be considered terminated by the marriage of, or 3 
establishment of a domestic partnership by, the widow subsequent 4 
to the member's death. In the event of the payment of an accidental 5 
death benefit, the five-year qualification shall be waived. 6 
 (2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this subsection, 7 
"widow," for employees of public employers other than the State, 8 
means the woman to whom a member was married at least five 9 
years before the date of his death and to whom he continued to be 10 
married until the date of his death and who was receiving at least 11 
1/2 of her support from the member in the 12-month period 12 
immediately preceding the member's death or the accident which 13 
was the direct cause of the member's death. The dependency of such 14 
a widow shall be considered terminated by the marriage of the 15 
widow subsequent to the member's death. In the event of the 16 
payment of an accidental death benefit, the five-year qualification 17 
shall be waived. 18 
 (3) A public employer other than the State may adopt a 19 
resolution providing that the term "widow" as defined in paragraph 20 
(2) of this subsection shall include domestic partners as provided in 21 
paragraph (1) of this subsection. 22 
 r. (1) "Compensation" means the base or contractual salary, for 23 
services as an employee, which is in accordance with established 24 
salary policies of the member's employer for all employees in the 25 
same position but shall not include individual salary adjustments 26 
which are granted primarily in anticipation of the member's 27 
retirement or additional remuneration for performing temporary or 28 
extracurricular duties beyond the regular workday or the regular 29 
work year. 30 
 (2) In the case of a person who becomes a member of the 31 
retirement system on or after July 1, 2007, "compensation" means 32 
the amount of base or contractual salary equivalent to the annual 33 
maximum wage contribution base for Social Security, pursuant to 34 
the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, for services as an 35 
employee, which is in accordance with established salary policies of 36 
the member's employer for all employees in the same position but 37 
shall not include individual salary adjustments which are granted 38 
primarily in anticipation of the member's retirement or additional 39 
remuneration for performing temporary or extracurricular duties 40 
beyond the regular workday or the regular work year. This 41 
paragraph shall not apply to a person who at the time of enrollment 42 
in the retirement system on or after July 1, 2007 transfers service 43 
credit from another State-administered retirement system pursuant 44 
to section 14 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-14), but shall apply to a 45 
former member of the retirement system who has been granted a 46 
retirement allowance and is reenrolled in the retirement system on 47 
or after July 1, 2007 pursuant to section 27 of P.L.1966, c.217 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
25 
 
 
(C.43:15A-57.2) after becoming employed again in a position that 1 
makes the person eligible to be a member of the retirement system. 2 
 In cases where salary includes maintenance, the retirement 3 
system shall fix the value of that part of the salary not paid in 4 
money which shall be considered under this act. 5 
 For the period of July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011, 6 
"contractual salary" for State employees shall include across the 7 
board negotiated wage increases under a collective negotiations 8 
agreement that were payable to all State employees covered by that 9 
agreement notwithstanding that, by amendment to that collective 10 
negotiations agreement, the effective date of the contractual 11 
increase has been deferred. For the purpose of this paragraph, 12 
"State employee" means an employee in the Executive Branch or 13 
the Judicial Branch of State government of New Jersey or an 14 
employee of the State University authorized to participate in the 15 
system under subsection b. of section 73 of P.L.1954, c.84 16 
(C.43:15A-73), but shall not include employees of agencies 17 
authorized to participate in the system under subsections a., c., d., 18 
e., f., and g. of section 73 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-73) or under 19 
P.L.1990, c.25 (C.43:15A-73.2 et al.). 20 
 For the period of July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011, 21 
"contractual salary" for county and municipal employees shall 22 
include across the board negotiated wage increases under a 23 
collective negotiations agreement that were payable to all county or 24 
all municipal employees covered by that agreement notwithstanding 25 
that, by amendment to that collective negotiations agreement which 26 
has been filed with the Division of Pensions and Benefits, the 27 
effective date of the contractual increase has been deferred.  For the 28 
purpose of this paragraph, "county and municipal employees" 29 
means all persons employed by a county or municipality in this 30 
State. 31 
(cf:  P.L.2010, c.50, s.71) 32 
 33 
 7. Section 4 of P.L.2001, c.127 (C.43:15A-24a) is amended to 34 
read as follows: 35 
 4. The State shall be liable for any increased cost to local 36 
government employers participating in the Public Employees' 37 
Retirement System, established pursuant to P.L.1954, c.84 38 
(C.43:15A-1 et seq.), as a result of the provisions of [this act,] 39 
P.L.2001, c.127, P.L.2001, c.128, and P.L.   , c.   (pending before 40 
the Legislature as this bill). 41 
(cf:  P.L.2001, c.127, s.4) 42 
 43 
 8. Section 2 of P.L.1963, c.19 (C.43:15A-73.1) is amended to 44 
read as follows:   45 
 2. A member may file a detailed statement of public 46 
employment in other states or with the United States Government 47 
which would be eligible for credit in a State-administered 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
26 
 
 
retirement system if the employment was with a public employer in 1 
this State, or of [military] federal active service in any branch of 2 
the Armed Forces of the United States or in a Reserve component 3 
thereof, or of service resulting from initial appointment or 4 
employment on or after January 1, 2002 with a bi-state or multi-5 
state agency established pursuant to an interstate compact to which 6 
the State is a party which would be eligible for credit in a State-7 
administered retirement system if the employment was with a 8 
public employer in this State, rendered prior to becoming a member, 9 
for which the member desires credit, and of such other facts as the 10 
retirement system may require. The member may purchase credit 11 
for all or a portion of the service evidenced in the statement up to 12 
the nearest number of years and months, but not exceeding 10 13 
years, provided however, that a member purchasing that maximum 14 
credit may purchase up to five additional years [for additional 15 
military] of federal active service qualifying the member as a 16 
veteran as defined in section 6 of P.L.1954, c.84 (C.43:15A-6) in 17 
any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve 18 
component thereof. No application shall be accepted for the 19 
purchase of credit for [the]: (1) a period of service if, at the time of 20 
application, the member has a vested right to retirement benefits in 21 
another retirement system based in whole or in part upon that 22 
service; or (2) a period of federal active service in any branch of a 23 
Reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States that is 24 
concurrent with other service described in this paragraph. The 25 
member may purchase credit for the service by paying into the 26 
annuity savings fund the amount required by applying the factor, 27 
supplied by the actuary as being applicable to the member's age at 28 
the time of the purchase, to the member's salary at that time, or to 29 
the highest annual compensation for service in this State for which 30 
contributions were made during any prior fiscal year of 31 
membership, whichever is greater.  The purchase may be made in 32 
regular installments, equal to at least 1/2 of the full normal 33 
contribution to the retirement system, over a maximum period of 10 34 
years. The employer of a member who applies, pursuant to this 35 
section, to purchase credit for public employment with the United 36 
States Government or for [military] federal active service in any 37 
branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve 38 
component thereof shall not be liable for any payment to the 39 
retirement system on behalf of the member for the purchase of this 40 
credit. 41 
 Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, a 42 
member shall not be liable for any costs associated with the 43 
financing of pension adjustment benefits and health care benefits 44 
for retirees when purchasing credit for public employment in other 45 
states or with the United States Government or [military] federal 46 
active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United 47   
A3161 TUCKER 
27 
 
 
States or a Reserve component thereof or with a bi-state or multi-1 
state agency. 2 
 Any member electing to make a purchase pursuant to this section 3 
who retires prior to completing payments as agreed with the 4 
retirement system will receive pro rata credit for the purchase prior 5 
to the date of retirement, but if the member so elects at the time of 6 
retirement, the member may make the additional lump sum payment 7 
required at that time to provide full credit.   8 
 Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 9 
service credit established in the retirement system by a member 10 
through purchase in accordance with this section, which purchase 11 
was made by an application submitted on or after the effective date 12 
of P.L.2008, c.89, except a purchase for [military] federal active 13 
service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a 14 
Reserve component thereof, shall not be eligible for consideration 15 
when service is used to determine the qualification of the member 16 
for any health care benefits coverage paid, in whole or in part, by a 17 
public employer after the member's retirement.   18 
(cf:  P.L.2008, c.89, s.4) 19 
 20 
 9. Section 1 of P.L.1983, c.391 (C.43:16A-11.7) is amended to 21 
read as follows:  22 
 1. For purposes of this act "veteran" means any [honorably 23 
discharged officer, soldier, sailor, airman, marine or nurse who 24 
served in any Army, Air Force or Navy of the Allies of the United 25 
States in World War I, between July 14, 1914, and November 11, 26 
1918, or who served in any Army, Air Force or Navy of the Allies 27 
of the United States in World War II, between September 1, 1939, 28 
and September 2, 1945, and who was inducted into such service 29 
through voluntary enlistment, and was a citizen of the United States 30 
at the time of such enlistment, and who did not, during or by reason 31 
of such service, renounce or lose United States citizenship, and any 32 
officer, soldier, sailor, marine, airman, nurse or army field clerk, 33 
who has served in the active military or naval service of the United 34 
States and has or shall be discharged or released therefrom under 35 
conditions other than dishonorable, in any of the following wars, 36 
uprisings, insurrections, expeditions, or emergencies,] person 37 
honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances 38 
from federal active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of 39 
the United States or a Reserve component thereof and who has 40 
presented to the [retirement system] Adjutant General of the 41 
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs evidence of such 42 
record of service in form and content satisfactory to [said 43 
retirement system: 44 
 (1) The Indian wars and uprisings during any of the periods 45 
recognized by the War Department of the United States as periods 46 
of active hostility; 47   
A3161 TUCKER 
28 
 
 
 (2) The Spanish-American War between April 20, 1898, and 1 
April 11, 1899; 2 
 (3) The Philippine insurrections and expeditions during the 3 
periods recognized by the War Department of the United States as 4 
of active hostility from February 4, 1899, to the end of 1913; 5 
 (4) The Peking relief expedition between June 20, 1900, and 6 
May 27, 1902; 7 
 (5) The army of Cuban occupation between July 18, 1898, and 8 
May 20, 1902; 9 
 (6) The army of Cuban pacification between October 6, 1906, 10 
and April 1, 1909; 11 
 (7) The Mexican punitive expedition between March 14, 1916, 12 
and February 7, 1917; 13 
 (8) The Mexican border patrol, having actually participated in 14 
engagements against Mexicans between April 12, 1911, and June 15 
16, 1919; 16 
 (9) World War I between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 17 
1918; 18 
 (10) World War II, between September 16, 1940, and December 19 
31, 1946, who shall have served at least 90 days in such active 20 
service, exclusive of any period of assignment (1) for a course of 21 
education or training under the Army Specialized Training Program 22 
or the Navy College Training program which course was a 23 
continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to completion, or 24 
(2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service academies any 25 
part of which 90 days was served between said dates; provided, that 26 
any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or disability 27 
shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person has 28 
completed the 90-day service as herein provided; 29 
 (11) Korean conflict on or after June 23, 1950, and on or prior to 30 
January 31, 1955, who shall have served at least 90 days in such 31 
active service, exclusive of any period of assignment (1) for a 32 
course of education or training under the Army Specialized 33 
Training Program or the Navy College Training Program which 34 
course was a continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to 35 
completion, or (2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service 36 
academies, any part of which 90 days was served between said 37 
dates; provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred 38 
injury or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that 39 
person has completed the 90-day service as herein provided; and 40 
provided further, that any member classed as a veteran pursuant to 41 
this subparagraph prior to August 1, 1966, shall continue to be 42 
classed as a veteran whether or not the member completed the 90-43 
day service between said dates as herein provided; 44 
 (12) Lebanon crisis, on or after July 1, 1958, who has served in 45 
Lebanon or on board any ship actively engaged in patrolling the 46 
territorial waters of that nation for a period, continuous or in the 47 
aggregate, of at least 14 days commencing on or before November 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
29 
 
 
l, 1958 or the date of termination of that conflict, as proclaimed by 1 
the President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 2 
termination is the latest, in such active service; provided, that any 3 
person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or disability shall 4 
be classed as a veteran whether or not that person has completed the 5 
14 days' service as herein provided; 6 
 (13) Vietnam conflict on or after December 31, 1960, and on or 7 
prior to May 7, 1975, who shall have served at least 90 days in such 8 
active service, exclusive of any period of assignment (1) for a 9 
course of education or training under the Army Specialized 10 
Training Program or the Navy College Training Program which 11 
course was a continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to 12 
completion, or (2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service 13 
academies, any part of which 90 days was served between said 14 
dates; and exclusive of any service performed pursuant to the 15 
provisions of section 511 (d) of Title 10, United States Code, 16 
pursuant to an enlistment in the Army National Guard or as a 17 
reserve for service in the Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Air Force 18 
Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve; provided, 19 
that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or 20 
disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 21 
has completed the 90 days' service as herein provided; 22 
 (14) Lebanon peacekeeping mission, on or after September 26, 23 
1982, who has served in Lebanon or on board any ship actively 24 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 25 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 26 
commencing on or before December 1, 1987 or the date of 27 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 28 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 29 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 30 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 31 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 32 
service as herein provided; 33 
 (15) Grenada peacekeeping mission, on or after October 23, 34 
1983, who has served in Grenada or on board any ship actively 35 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 36 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 37 
commencing on or before November 21, 1983 or the date of 38 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 39 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 40 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 41 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 42 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 43 
service as herein provided; 44 
 (16) Panama peacekeeping mission, on or after December 20, 45 
1989 or the date of inception of that mission, as proclaimed by the 46 
President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 47 
inception is earliest, who has served in Panama or on board any ship 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
30 
 
 
actively engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for 1 
a period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 2 
commencing on or before January 31, 1990 or the date of 3 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 4 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 5 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 6 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 7 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 8 
service as herein provided; 9 
 (17) Operation "Desert Shield/Desert Storm" mission in the 10 
Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf, on or after August 2, 1990 11 
or the date of inception of that operation, as proclaimed by the 12 
President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 13 
inception is earliest, who has served in the Arabian peninsula or on 14 
board any ship actively engaged in patrolling the Persian Gulf for a 15 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 16 
commencing on or before the date of termination of that mission, as 17 
proclaimed by the President of the United States or Congress, 18 
whichever date of termination is the latest, in such active service; 19 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 20 
or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 21 
has completed the 14 days' service as herein provided; 22 
 (18) Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch, 23 
on or after August 27, 1992, or the date of inception of that 24 
operation, as proclaimed by the President of the United States, 25 
Congress or United States Secretary of Defense, whichever date of 26 
inception is earliest, who served in the theater of operation, 27 
including in the Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf, and in 28 
direct support of that operation for a period, continuously or in the 29 
aggregate, of at least 14 days in such active service, commencing on 30 
or before the date of termination of that operation, as proclaimed by 31 
the President of the United States, Congress or United States 32 
Secretary of Defense, whichever date of termination is the latest; 33 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 34 
or disability while engaged in such service shall be classed as a 35 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 36 
service as herein provided; 37 
 (19) Operation "Restore Hope" in Somalia, on or after December 38 
5, 1992, or the date of inception of that operation as proclaimed by 39 
the President of the United States or Congress, whichever date is 40 
earliest, who has served in Somalia or on board any ship actively 41 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 42 
period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days in such 43 
active service commencing on or before March 31, 1994; provided 44 
that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or 45 
disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 46 
has completed the 14-day service as herein provided; 47   
A3161 TUCKER 
31 
 
 
 (20) Operations "Joint Endeavor" and "Joint Guard" in the 1 
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on or after November 20, 2 
1995, who served in such active service in direct support of one or 3 
both of the operations for at least 14 days, continuously or in the 4 
aggregate, commencing on or before June 20, 1998, and (1) was 5 
deployed in that nation or in another area in the region, or (2) was 6 
on board a United States naval vessel operating in the Adriatic Sea, 7 
or (3) operated in airspace above the Republic of Bosnia and 8 
Herzegovina; provided that any person receiving an actual service-9 
incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or 10 
not that person completed the 14-day service requirement; 11 
 (21) Operation "Enduring Freedom", on or after September 11, 12 
2001, who served in a theater of operation and in direct support of 13 
that operation for a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at 14 
least 14 days in such active service commencing on or before the 15 
date the President of the United States or the United States 16 
Secretary of Defense designates as the termination date of that 17 
operation; provided, that any person receiving an actual service-18 
incurred injury or disability while engaged in such service shall be 19 
classed as a veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 20 
days' service as herein provided; and 21 
 (22) Operation "Iraqi Freedom", on or after the date the President 22 
of the United States or the United States Secretary of Defense 23 
designates as the inception date of that operation, who served in 24 
Iraq or in another area in the region in direct support of that 25 
operation for a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 26 
14 days in such active service commencing on or before the date the 27 
President of the United States or the United States Secretary of 28 
Defense designates as the termination date of that operation; 29 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 30 
or disability while engaged in such service shall be classed as a 31 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 32 
service as herein provided. 33 
 "Veteran" also means any honorably discharged member of the 34 
American Merchant Marine who served during World War II and is 35 
declared by the United States Department of Defense to be eligible 36 
for federal veterans' benefits] the Adjutant General. 37 
(cf:  P.L.2005, c.64, s.4) 38 
 39 
 10.  Section 3 of P.L.1991, c.153 (C.43:16A-11.11) is amended 40 
to read as follows: 41 
 3. A member of the Police and Firemen's Retirement System 42 
may file a detailed statement of public employment in other states 43 
or with the United States Government which would be eligible for 44 
credit in a State-administered retirement system if the employment 45 
was with a public employer in this State, of [military] federal 46 
active service in the Armed Forces of the United States or in a 47 
Reserve component thereof, or of public employment as a class two 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
32 
 
 
special law enforcement officer with a public employer in this 1 
State, including time taken during such public employment to 2 
complete a basic police training course required for that 3 
employment, rendered prior to becoming a member, for which the 4 
member desires credit, and of such other facts as the retirement 5 
system may require.  The member may purchase credit for all or a 6 
portion of the service evidenced in the statement up to the nearest 7 
number of years and months, but not exceeding 10 years, provided 8 
however, that a member purchasing that maximum credit may 9 
purchase up to five additional years [for additional military] of 10 
federal active service qualifying the member as a veteran as defined 11 
in section 1 of P.L.1983, c.391 (C.43:16A-11.7) in the Armed 12 
Forces of the United States or a Reserve component thereof. No 13 
application shall be accepted for the purchase of credit for [the] : 14 
(1) a period of service if, at the time of application, the member has 15 
a vested right to retirement benefits in another retirement system 16 
based in whole or in part upon that service; or (2) a period of 17 
federal active service in a Reserve component of the Armed Forces 18 
of the United States that is concurrent with other service described 19 
in this paragraph. 20 
 The member may purchase credit for the service by paying into 21 
the annuity savings fund the amount required by applying the 22 
factor, supplied by the actuary as being applicable to the member's 23 
age at the time of the purchase, to the member's salary at that time, 24 
or to the highest annual compensation for service in this State for 25 
which contributions were made during any prior fiscal year of 26 
membership, whichever is greater.  The purchase may be made in 27 
regular installments equal to at least 1/2 of the full normal 28 
contribution to the retirement system, over a maximum period of 10 29 
years. The employer of a member who applies, pursuant to this 30 
section, to purchase credit for public employment with the United 31 
States Government, for [military] federal active service in any 32 
branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve 33 
component thereof, or for public employment as a class two special 34 
law enforcement officer with a public employer in this State shall 35 
not be liable for any payment to the retirement system on behalf of 36 
the member for the purchase of this credit. 37 
 Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, a 38 
member shall not be liable for any costs associated with the 39 
financing of pension adjustment benefits and health care benefits 40 
for retirees when purchasing credit for public employment in other 41 
states or with the United States Government, [military] federal 42 
active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United 43 
States or a Reserve component thereof, or for public employment as 44 
a class two special law enforcement officer with a public employer 45 
in this State. 46 
 Any member electing to purchase the service who retires prior to 47 
completing payments as agreed with the retirement system will 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
33 
 
 
receive pro rata credit for service purchased prior to the date of 1 
retirement, but if the member so elects at the time of retirement, the 2 
member may make the additional lump sum payment required at 3 
that time to provide full credit. 4 
 Purchase of credit for service as a class two special law 5 
enforcement officer shall be permitted only if the break between 6 
service as such an officer and the date of their enrollment in the 7 
Police and Firemen's Retirement System is less than 365 days.  8 
Members of the retirement system who are enrolled on the effective 9 
date of P.L.2024, c.54 shall have only one year from that effective 10 
date to apply for such a purchase.  The board of trustees shall notify 11 
all members of the retirement system of the provisions of this act, 12 
P.L.2024, c.54. 13 
(cf:  P.L.2024, c.54, s.1) 14 
 15 
 11. Section 3 of P.L.1965, c.89 (C.53:5A-3) is amended to read 16 
as follows:   17 
 3. As used in this act: 18 
 a. "Aggregate contributions" means the sum of all the amounts, 19 
deducted from the salary of a member or contributed by him or on 20 
his behalf, standing to the credit of his individual account in the 21 
Annuity Savings Fund. Interest credited on contributions to the 22 
former "State Police Retirement and Benevolent Fund" shall be 23 
included in a member's aggregate contributions. 24 
 b. "Annuity" means payments for life derived from the 25 
aggregate contributions of a member. 26 
 c. "Annuity reserve" means the present value of all payments 27 
to be made on account of any annuity or benefit in lieu of an 28 
annuity, computed upon the basis of such mortality tables 29 
recommended by the actuary as the board of trustees adopts and 30 
regular interest. 31 
 d. "Beneficiary" means any person entitled to receive any 32 
benefit pursuant to the provisions of this act by reason of the death 33 
of a member or retirant. 34 
 e. "Board of trustees" or "board" means the board provided for 35 
in section 30 of this act. 36 
 f. "Child" means a deceased member's or retirant's unmarried 37 
child either (a) under the age of 18, or (b) 18 years of age or older 38 
and enrolled in a secondary school, or (c) under the age of 24 and 39 
enrolled in a degree program in an institution of higher education 40 
for at least 12 credit hours in each semester, provided that the 41 
member died in active service as a result of an accident met in the 42 
actual performance of duty at some definite time and place, and the 43 
death was not the result of the member's willful misconduct, or (d) 44 
of any age who, at the time of the member's or retirant's death, is 45 
disabled because of an intellectual disability or physical incapacity, 46 
is unable to do any substantial, gainful work because of the 47 
impairment and his impairment has lasted or can be expected to last 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
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for a continuous period of not less than 12 months, as affirmed by 1 
the medical board. 2 
 g. "Creditable service" means service rendered for which credit 3 
is allowed on the basis of contributions made by the member or the 4 
State. 5 
 h. "Parent" means the parent of a member who was receiving at 6 
least one-half of his support from the member in the 12-month 7 
period immediately preceding the member's death or the accident 8 
which was the direct cause of the member's death.  The dependency 9 
of such a parent will be considered terminated by marriage of the 10 
parent subsequent to the death of the member. 11 
 i. (1) "Final compensation" means the average compensation 12 
received by the member in the last 12 months of creditable service 13 
preceding his retirement or death.  Such term includes the value of 14 
the member's maintenance allowance for this same period. 15 
 (2) In the case of a person who becomes a member of the 16 
retirement system on or after the effective date of P.L.2010, c.1, 17 
"final compensation" means the average annual compensation for 18 
service for which contributions are made during any three fiscal 19 
years of membership providing the largest possible benefit to the 20 
member or the member's beneficiary.  Such term includes the value 21 
of the member's maintenance allowance for this same period. 22 
 j. (1) "Final salary" means the average salary received by the 23 
member in the last 12 months of creditable service preceding his 24 
retirement or death.  Such term shall not include the value of the 25 
member's maintenance allowance. 26 
 (2) In the case of a person who becomes a member of the 27 
retirement system on or after the effective date of P.L.2010, c.1, 28 
"final salary" means the average annual salary for service for which 29 
contributions are made during any three fiscal years of membership 30 
providing the largest possible benefit to the member or the 31 
member's beneficiary.  Such term shall not include the value of the 32 
member's maintenance allowance. 33 
 k. "Fiscal year" means any year commencing with July 1 and 34 
ending with June 30 next following. 35 
 l. "Medical board" means the board of physicians provided for 36 
in section 30 of this act. 37 
 m. "Member" means any full-time, commissioned officer, non-38 
commissioned officer or trooper of the Division of State Police of 39 
the Department of Law and Public Safety of the State of New Jersey 40 
enrolled in the retirement system established by this act. 41 
 n. "Pension" means payment for life derived from contributions 42 
by the State. 43 
 o. "Pension reserve" means the present value of all payments to 44 
be made on account of any pension or benefit in lieu of any pension 45 
computed on the basis of such mortality tables recommended by the 46 
actuary as shall be adopted by the board of trustees and regular 47 
interest. 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
35 
 
 
 p. "Regular interest" means interest as determined by the State 1 
Treasurer, after consultation with the Directors of the Divisions of 2 
Investment and Pensions, the board of trustees and the actuary.  It 3 
shall bear a reasonable relationship to the percentage rate of 4 
earnings on investments based on the market value of the assets but 5 
shall not exceed the assumed percentage rate of increase applied to 6 
salaries plus 3%, provided however that the board of trustees shall 7 
not set the average percentage rate of increase applied to salaries 8 
below 6%. 9 
 q. "Retirant" means any former member receiving a retirement 10 
allowance as provided by this act. 11 
 r. "Retirement allowance" means the pension plus the annuity. 12 
 s. "State Police Retirement System of New Jersey," herein also 13 
referred to as the "retirement system" or "system," is the corporate 14 
name of the arrangement for the payment of retirement allowances 15 
and of the benefits under the provisions of this act including the 16 
several funds placed under said system. By that name, all of its 17 
business shall be transacted, its funds invested, warrants for moneys 18 
drawn, and payments made and all of its cash and securities and 19 
other property held.  All assets held in the name of the former 20 
"State Police Retirement and Benevolent Fund" shall be transferred 21 
to the retirement system established by this act. 22 
 t. "Surviving spouse" means the person to whom a member or 23 
a retirant was married, or a domestic partner as defined in section 3 24 
of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-3), on the date of the death of the 25 
member or retirant. The dependency of such a surviving spouse will 26 
be considered terminated by the marriage of, or establishment of a 27 
domestic partnership by, the surviving spouse subsequent to the 28 
member's or the retirant's death, except that in the event of the 29 
payment of accidental death benefits, pursuant to section 14 of 30 
P.L.1965, c.89 (C.53:5A-14), the dependency of such a surviving 31 
spouse or domestic partner will not be considered terminated by the 32 
marriage of, or establishment of a domestic partnership by, the 33 
surviving spouse subsequent to the member's death. 34 
 u. (1) "Compensation" for purposes of computing pension 35 
contributions means the base salary, for services as a member as 36 
defined in this act, which is in accordance with established salary 37 
policies of the State for all employees in the same position but shall 38 
not include individual salary adjustments which are granted 39 
primarily in anticipation of the member's retirement or additional 40 
remuneration for performing temporary duties beyond the regular 41 
workday or shift. 42 
 (2) In the case of a person who becomes a member of the 43 
retirement system on or after the effective date of P.L.2010, c.1, 44 
"compensation" means the amount of base salary equivalent to the 45 
annual maximum wage contribution base for Social Security, 46 
pursuant to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, for services as 47 
a member as defined in this act, which is in accordance with 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
36 
 
 
established salary policies of the State for all employees in the same 1 
position but shall not include individual salary adjustments which 2 
are granted primarily in anticipation of the member's retirement or 3 
additional remuneration for performing temporary duties beyond 4 
the regular workday or shift. 5 
 v. "Veteran" means any person [who has served in the United 6 
States Armed Forces and has or shall be discharged or released 7 
therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable, in any of the 8 
following wars or emergencies,] person honorably discharged or 9 
released under honorable circumstances from federal active service 10 
in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve 11 
component thereof and who has presented to the [retirement 12 
system] Adjutant General of the Department of Military and 13 
Veterans Affairs evidence of such record of service in form and 14 
content satisfactory to the [retirement system: 15 
 (1) Vietnam conflict on or after December 31, 1960, and on or 16 
prior to May 7, 1975, who shall have served at least 90 days in such 17 
active service, exclusive of any period of assignment (1) for a 18 
course of education or training under the Army Specialized 19 
Training Program or the Navy College Training Program which 20 
course was a continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to 21 
completion, or (2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service 22 
academies, any part of which 90 days was served between said 23 
dates; and exclusive of any service performed pursuant to the 24 
provisions of section 511 (d) of Title 10, United States Code, 25 
pursuant to an enlistment in the Army National Guard or as a 26 
reserve for service in the Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Air Force 27 
Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve; provided, 28 
that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or 29 
disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 30 
has completed the 90 days' service as herein provided; 31 
 (2) Lebanon peacekeeping mission, on or after September 26, 32 
1982, who has served in Lebanon or on board any ship actively 33 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 34 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 35 
commencing on or before December 1, 1987 or the date of 36 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 37 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 38 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 39 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 40 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 41 
service as herein provided; 42 
 (3) Grenada peacekeeping mission, on or after October 23, 43 
1983, who has served in Grenada or on board any ship actively 44 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 45 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 46 
commencing on or before November 21, 1983 or the date of 47   
A3161 TUCKER 
37 
 
 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 1 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 2 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 3 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 4 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 5 
service as herein provided; 6 
 (4) Panama peacekeeping mission, on or after December 20, 7 
1989 or the date of inception of that mission, as proclaimed by the 8 
President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 9 
inception is earliest, who has served in Panama or on board any ship 10 
actively engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for 11 
a period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 12 
commencing on or before January 31, 1990 or the date of 13 
termination of that mission, as proclaimed by the President of the 14 
United States or Congress, whichever date of termination is the 15 
latest, in such active service; provided, that any person receiving an 16 
actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a 17 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 18 
service as herein provided; 19 
 (5) Operation "Desert Shield/Desert Storm" mission in the 20 
Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf, on or after August 2, 1990 21 
or the date of inception of that operation, as proclaimed by the 22 
President of the United States or Congress, whichever date of 23 
inception is earliest, who has served in the Arabian peninsula or on 24 
board any ship actively engaged in patrolling the Persian Gulf for a 25 
period, continuous or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days 26 
commencing on or before the date of termination of that mission, as 27 
proclaimed by the President of the United States or Congress, 28 
whichever date of termination is the latest, in such active service; 29 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 30 
or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 31 
has completed the 14 days' service as herein provided; 32 
 (6) Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch, 33 
on or after August 27, 1992, or the date of inception of that 34 
operation, as proclaimed by the President of the United States, 35 
Congress or United States Secretary of Defense, whichever date of 36 
inception is earliest, who served in the theater of operation, 37 
including in the Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf, and in 38 
direct support of that operation for a period, continuously or in the 39 
aggregate, of at least 14 days in such active service, commencing on 40 
or before the date of termination of that operation, as proclaimed by 41 
the President of the United States, Congress or United States 42 
Secretary of Defense, whichever date of termination is the latest; 43 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 44 
or disability while engaged in such service shall be classed as a 45 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 46 
service as herein provided; 47   
A3161 TUCKER 
38 
 
 
 (7) Operation "Restore Hope" in Somalia, on or after December 1 
5, 1992, or the date of inception of that operation as proclaimed by 2 
the President of the United States or Congress, whichever date is 3 
earliest, who has served in Somalia or on board any ship actively 4 
engaged in patrolling the territorial waters of that nation for a 5 
period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 14 days in such 6 
active service commencing on or before March 31, 1994; provided 7 
that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or 8 
disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or not that person 9 
has completed the 14-day service as herein provided; 10 
 (8) Operations "Joint Endeavor" and "Joint Guard" in the 11 
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on or after November 20, 12 
1995, who served in such active service in direct support of one or 13 
both of the operations for at least 14 days, continuously or in the 14 
aggregate, commencing on or before June 20, 1998, and (1) was 15 
deployed in that nation or in another area in the region, or (2) was 16 
on board a United States naval vessel operating in the Adriatic Sea, 17 
or (3) operated in airspace above the Republic of Bosnia and 18 
Herzegovina; provided that any person receiving an actual service-19 
incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a veteran whether or 20 
not that person completed the 14-day service requirement; 21 
 (9) Operation "Enduring Freedom", on or after September 11, 22 
2001, who served in a theater of operation and in direct support of 23 
that operation for a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at 24 
least 14 days in such active service commencing on or before the 25 
date the President of the United States or the United States 26 
Secretary of Defense designates as the termination date of that 27 
operation; provided, that any person receiving an actual service-28 
incurred injury or disability while engaged in such service shall be 29 
classed as a veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 30 
days' service as herein provided; and 31 
 (10) Operation "Iraqi Freedom", on or after the date the President 32 
of the United States or the United States Secretary of Defense 33 
designates as the inception date of that operation, who served in 34 
Iraq or in another area in the region in direct support of that 35 
operation for a period, continuously or in the aggregate, of at least 36 
14 days in such active service commencing on or before the date the 37 
President of the United States or the United States Secretary of 38 
Defense designates as the termination date of that operation; 39 
provided, that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury 40 
or disability while engaged in such service shall be classed as a 41 
veteran whether or not that person has completed the 14 days' 42 
service as herein provided] Adjutant General. 43 
(cf:  P.L.2016, c.26, s.1) 44 
 45 
 12. (New section) Notwithstanding any other law to the 46 
contrary, a resident of this State who is in federal active service in 47 
any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve 48   
A3161 TUCKER 
39 
 
 
component thereof, and has not been discharged or released 1 
therefrom, but who otherwise qualifies as a veteran, shall be eligible 2 
for a civil service preference on the same basis as a veteran.  3 
Instead of the certificate of honorable discharge or release under 4 
honorable circumstances required to be provided to the Adjutant 5 
General of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs 6 
pursuant to N.J.S.11A:5-1, the applicant shall provide to the 7 
Adjutant General, in a form and content the Adjutant General shall 8 
deem appropriate, evidence of status in federal active service in any 9 
branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve 10 
component thereof and evidence of subsequent discharge therefrom 11 
no later than eight days prior to the issuance of an employment list 12 
for which that individual received a passing score.   13 
 14 
 13. N.J.S.11A:5-13 and section 3 of P.L.2001, c.128 (C.43:15A-15 
24b) are repealed.   16 
 17 
 14. This act shall take effect immediately, except that section 1 18 
shall take effect on the 1st day of the calendar year following 19 
approval by the voters of an authorizing amendment to Article VII, 20 
Section I, paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the State of New 21 
Jersey. 22