A New Jersey General Assembly panel has advanced a bill that would waive a tax imposed on some residents without health insurance coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A. 4807, sponsored by Democratic Assembly members John Armato, Yvonne Lopez, and Gordon M. Johnson, cleared the Appropriations Committee October 26 by an 11–0 vote. The bill is on its second reading in the Assembly.
In a joint statement, the sponsors said, “With an average of 20,000 to 30,000 New Jerseyans filing a new unemployment claim every week and thousands more continuing to receive unemployment benefits as a result of COVID-19, we cannot ignore the economic hardship this pandemic has imposed on our residents.
“Not only does losing one’s job mean losing a steady income, but it often means losing one’s health insurance as well. The current economic crisis limiting job opportunities means that many individuals are simply unable to acquire employer-provided insurance or afford any other insurance plan right now. We need to recognize that conundrum and waive this fee for eligible residents during the ongoing public health emergency,” they said.
The bill would waive shared responsibility tax payments enacted under legislation approved in 2018 (P.L. 2018, chapter 31) that requires individual taxpayers to maintain health insurance. Taxpayers without coverage are required to pay the shared responsibility tax. The law was enacted to counter the elimination by the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of the tax penalty provision that was included in the Affordable Care Act.
A. 4807 would waive the tax for taxpayers who receive state or federal unemployment benefits or who experience a substantial loss of income for any month that the governor's executive order declaring the COVID-19 pandemic a public health emergency is in place.
The bill defines substantial loss of income as a reduction in average monthly income of 50 percent or greater as compared with the average in 2019.