Introduced Version
House Bill 2891 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2891
(By Delegates Caputo, Ashley, D. Poling,
Reynolds, Hamilton, Pethtel, Walker, Morgan, Diserio,
Poore and Stephens)
[Introduced March 11, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §15-2-33 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §15-2A-12 of said
code, all relating to scholarships for dependent children of
state troopers who die in performance of duty; and stating
amount available per year.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-2-33 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §15-2A-12 of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE.
§15-2-33. Awards and benefits to dependents of member when the
member dies in performance of duty; to dependents of
a duty disability retirant; dependent child
scholarship and amount.
(a) The surviving spouse or the dependent child or children or
dependent parent or parents of any member who has lost or loses his
or her life by reason of injury, illness or disease resulting from an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the
service required of employees while the member was or is engaged in
the performance of his or her duties as an employee of the agency,
or if a retirant dies from any cause after having been retired
pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-nine of this article,
the surviving spouse or other dependent is entitled to receive and
shall be paid from the fund benefits as follows: To the surviving
spouse annually, in equal monthly installments during his or her
lifetime the greater of one or the other of two amounts:
(1) An amount equal to five and one-half percent of the total
salary which was or would have been earned by the deceased member
or duty disability retirant during twenty-five years of service
based on the average earnings of the member or duty disability
retirant while employed by the agency; or
(2) The sum of $6,000.
(b) In addition, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive
and shall be paid $100 monthly for each dependent child or
children. If the surviving spouse dies or if there is no surviving
spouse, there shall be paid monthly to each dependent child or
children from the fund a sum equal to twenty-five percent of the
surviving spouse's entitlement. If there is no surviving spouse
and no dependent child or children, there shall be paid annually in
equal monthly installments from the fund to the dependent parents
of the deceased member or retirant during their joint lifetimes a
sum equal to the amount which a surviving spouse, without children, would have received: Provided, That when there is one dependent
parent surviving, that parent is entitled to receive during his or
her lifetime one-half the amount which both parents, if living,
would have been entitled to receive.
(c) Any person qualified as a surviving dependent child under
this section, in addition to any other benefits due under this or
other sections of this article, is entitled to receive a
scholarship to be applied to the career development education of
that person. This sum up to but not exceeding $7,500 per year
shall be paid from the fund to any university or college in this
state or to any trade or vocational school or other entity in this
state approved by the board, to offset the expenses of tuition,
room and board, books, fees or other costs incurred in a course of
study at any of those institutions so long as the recipient makes
application to the board on an approved form and under rules as
provided by the board and maintains scholastic eligibility as
defined by the institution or the board. The board may by
appropriate rules define age requirements, physical and mental
requirements, scholastic eligibility, disbursement methods,
institutional qualifications and other requirements as necessary
and not inconsistent with this section.
(d) A surviving spouse or dependent of an employee meeting the
requirements of this section is entitled to receive beneficiary
payments on the first day following the date the deceased employee
is removed from payroll by the agency. A surviving spouse or dependent of a member who is not currently an employee meeting the
requirements of this section is entitled to receive beneficiary
payments on the first day following the date of the deceased
member's death. A surviving spouse or dependent of a retirant
meeting the requirements of this section is entitled to receive
beneficiary payments on the first day of the month following the
date of the deceased retirant's death. Upon receipt of properly
executed forms from the agency and the surviving spouse or
dependent, the board shall process the surviving spouse or
dependent benefit as soon as administratively feasible.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the term "salary" does
not include any compensation paid for overtime service.
ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§15-2A-12. Awards and benefits to dependents of employees or
retirants - When employee dies in performance of
duty, etc.; dependent child scholarship and amount.
The surviving spouse, the dependent child or children or
dependent parent or parents of any employee who has lost or shall
lose his or her life by reason of injury, illness or disease
resulting from an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or
peculiar to the service required of employees while the employee
was engaged in the performance of his or her duties as an employee
of the agency, or the survivor of a retirant who dies from any
cause after having been retired pursuant to the provisions of section nine of this article, is entitled to receive and shall be
paid from the fund benefits as follows: To the surviving spouse
annually, in equal monthly installments during his or her lifetime,
one or the other of two amounts, which shall become payable the
first day of the month following the employee's or retirant's death
and which shall be the greater of:
(1) An amount equal to nine-tenths of the base salary received
in the preceding full twelve-month employment period by the
deceased employee: Provided, That if the employee had not been
employed with the agency for twelve full months prior to his or her
death, the amount of monthly salary shall be annualized for the
purpose of determining the benefit; or
(2) The sum of $10,000.
In addition, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive and
shall be paid $150 monthly for each dependent child. If the
surviving spouse dies or if there is no surviving spouse, there
shall be paid monthly to each dependent child or children from the
fund a sum equal to one third of the surviving spouse's
entitlement. If there is no surviving spouse and no dependent
child or children, there shall be paid annually in equal monthly
installments from the fund to the dependent parents of the deceased
member during their joint lifetimes a sum equal to the amount which
a surviving spouse, without children, would have received:
Provided, That when there is one dependent parent surviving, that
parent is entitled to receive during his or her lifetime one-half the amount which both parents, if living, would have been entitled
to receive: Provided, however, That if there is no surviving
spouse, dependent child, or dependent parent of the deceased
member, the accumulated contributions shall be paid to a named
beneficiary or beneficiaries: Provided further, That if there is
no surviving spouse, dependent child, dependent parent of the
deceased member or any named beneficiary or beneficiaries, then the
accumulated contributions shall be paid to the estate of the
deceased member.
Any person qualifying as a surviving dependent child under
this section, in addition to any other benefits due under this or
other sections of this article, is entitled to receive a
scholarship to be applied to the career development education of
that person. This sum, up to but not exceeding $7,500 per year
shall be paid from the fund to any university or college in this
state or to any trade or vocational school or other entity in this
state approved by the board to offset the expenses of tuition, room
and board, books, fees or other costs incurred in a course of study
at any of these institutions as long as the recipient makes
application to the board on an approved form and under rules
provided by the board and maintains scholastic eligibility as
defined by the institution or the board. The board may by
appropriate rules define age requirements, physical and mental
requirements, scholastic eligibility, disbursement methods,
institutional qualifications and other requirements as necessary and not inconsistent with this section.
A surviving spouse or dependent of an employee meeting the
requirements of this section is entitled to receive beneficiary
payments on the first day of the month following the date the
deceased member is removed from payroll by the agency. A surviving
spouse or dependent of a member who is not currently an employee
meeting the requirements of this section is entitled to receive
beneficiary payments on the first day of the month following the
date of the deceased member's death. A surviving spouse or
dependent of a retirant meeting the requirements of this section is
entitled to receive beneficiary payments on the first day of the
month following the date of the deceased retirant's death. Upon
receipt of properly executed forms from the agency and surviving
spouse or dependent, the board shall process the surviving spouse
or dependent benefit as soon as administratively feasible.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the levels of
benefits provided by operation of this section from the effective
date of the enactment of this section during the regular session of
the Legislature, 2005, be the same levels of benefits as provided
by this section as amended and reenacted during the fourth
extraordinary session of the Legislature, 2005. Accordingly, the
effective date of the operation of this section as amended and
reenacted during the fourth extraordinary session of the
Legislature, 2005, is expressly made retrospective to April 9,
2005.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that the amount
of scholarship available to dependent children of State Troopers
who die in the performance of duty is an amount up to but not
exceeding $7,500 per year.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.