Board members to be paid $3,000 monthly

Summary#

A-5671 would amend New Jersey’s law governing the State Board of Medical Examiners and provide General Fund money to implement the change. It would replace the specified members’ annual salary with a monthly salary; its stated purpose is to provide monthly pay for certain board members. The bill has been introduced and is not law.

  • The board’s secretary and each member would receive $3,000 a month, except the Commissioner of Health or the commissioner’s designee and the executive department designee, who would remain unpaid.
  • The existing $250 payment for each regular examination remains in the bill’s text.
  • The Division of Consumer Affairs would receive whatever General Fund money is necessary to implement the change, subject to certification by its director and approval by the Treasury’s Budget and Accounting director.
  • The bill would take effect immediately if enacted.

What it means for you#

  • Board members and secretary: The specified members and secretary would receive a monthly salary of $3,000. The two named designees would not receive that salary.
  • Medical examiners and the public: The bill does not directly change medical licensing rules, examinations, or services.
  • Taxpayers: The bill authorizes General Fund spending, but does not set a total amount.

Money#

The bill sets monthly pay at $3,000 for eligible board members and the secretary, but gives no total cost estimate.

  • It appropriates the amount needed from the General Fund, as certified by the Division of Consumer Affairs director and approved by the Treasury’s Budget and Accounting director.
  • The $250 payment for each regular examination remains in the text. The bill does not estimate its cost or clarify how it applies alongside the provision that two designees serve without compensation.

What is unclear#

  • How many people would qualify for the monthly salary, and what the total annual cost would be.
  • How the retained $250 examination payment interacts with the unpaid status of the two designees.
  • The bill’s supplied text refers to existing annual pay under another law, but that law was not supplied. The existing pay amount and related rules could not be verified against current law.
  • The bill does not explain how long a person must serve to receive a monthly payment or how partial months would be handled.

Case for#

  • The board must meet monthly and hold regular examinations. A monthly salary could compensate eligible members for their ongoing board duties.
  • The bill provides a specific monthly amount and identifies which roles are excluded from that salary.

Case against#

  • The bill does not cap the appropriation or provide a cost estimate, leaving the total public expense unclear.
  • Eligible members would receive monthly pay while the existing examination payment remains in the text. The bill does not explain how the two forms of payment fit together.
  • The bill does not explain why the salary amount was chosen or what duties or time commitment it is meant to cover.