Senate Bill No. 74
(By Senators Prezioso, Unger and Chafin)
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[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §5-10-15 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing that any service in
the United States armed forces up to five years is credited
service toward retirement for members of the Public Employees
Retirement System.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-10-15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
§5-10-15. Military service credit; qualified military service.
(a)(1)
The Legislature recognizes the men and women of this
state who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States
during times of war, conflict and danger. It is the intent of this
section to confer military service credit upon persons who are
eligible at any time for Public Employees Retirement Benefits for any time served in active duty in the Armed Forces of the United
States.
when the duty was during any period of compulsory military
service or during a period of armed conflict, as defined in this
section
(2) In addition to any benefit provided by federal law, any
member of the retirement system who has previously served in or
enters the active service of the Armed Forces of the United States
during any period of
compulsory military service
or during a period
of armed conflict shall receive credited service for the time spent
in the Armed Forces of the United States, not to exceed five years
if the member:
(A) Has been honorably discharged from the Armed Forces; and
(B) Substantiates by appropriate documentation or evidence his
or her active military service and entry into military service.
during any period of compulsory military service or during periods
of armed conflict
(3) Any member of the retirement system who enters the active
service of the Armed Forces of the United States
during any period
of compulsory military service or during a period of armed conflict
shall receive the credit provided by this section regardless of
whether he or she was a public employee at the time of entering the
military service.
(4) If a member of the Public Employees Retirement System
enters the active service of the United States,
and serves during any period of compulsory military service or during any period of
armed conflict during the period of
the armed service and until the
member's return to the employ of a participating public employer,
the member's contributions to the retirement system is suspended
and any credit balance remaining in the member's deposit fund shall
be accumulated at regular interest:
Provided, That notwithstanding
any provision in this article to the contrary, if an employee of a
participating political subdivision serving in the military service
during any period of compulsory military service or armed conflict
has accumulated credited service prior to the last entry into
military service, in an amount that, added to the time in active
military service while an employee equals nine or more years, and
the member is unable to resume employment with a participating
employer upon completion of duty due to death during or as a result
of active service, all time spent in active military service, up to
and including a total of five years, is considered to be credited
service and death benefits are vested in the member.
Provided,
however, That the active service during the time the member is an
employee must be as a result of an order or call to duty, and not
as a result of volunteering for assignment or volunteering to
extend the time in service beyond the time required by order or
call
(5) No member may receive duplicate credit for service.
for
a period of compulsory military service which falls under a period of armed conflict
(6) In any case of doubt as to the period of service to be
credited a member, under the provisions of this section, the Board
of Trustees have final power to determine the period.
(7) The board may consider a petition by any member whose tour
of duty, in a territory that would reasonably be considered hostile
and dangerous, was extended beyond the period in which an armed
conflict was officially recognized, if that tour of duty commenced
during a period of armed conflict, and the member was assigned to
duty stations within the hostile territory throughout the period
for which service credit is being sought. The board has the
authority to evaluate the facts and circumstances peculiar to the
petition, and rule on whether granting service credit for the
extended tour of duty is consistent with the objectives of this
article. In that determination, the board may grant full credit
for the period under petition subject to the limitations otherwise
applicable, or to grant credit for any part of the period as the
board considers appropriate, or to deny credit altogether.
(8) (7) The Board of Trustees may propose legislative rules
for promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article
three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to administer the
provisions of this section.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply:
(1) "Period of armed conflict" means the Spanish-American War,
the Mexican border period, World War I, World War II, the Korean
conflict, the Vietnam era, the Persian Gulf War and any other
period of armed conflict by the United States, including, but not
limited to, those periods sanctioned by a declaration of war by the
United States Congress or by executive or other order of the
President.
(2) "Spanish-American War" means the period beginning on the
twenty-first day of April, one thousand eight hundred ninety-eight,
and ending on the fourth day of July, one thousand nine hundred
two, and includes the Philippine Insurrection, the Boxer Rebellion,
and in the case of a veteran who served with the United States
Military forces engaged in hostilities in the Moro Province, means
the period beginning on the twenty-first day of April, one thousand
eight hundred ninety-eight, and ending on the fifteenth day of
July, one thousand nine hundred three.
(3) "The Mexican border period" means the period beginning on
the ninth day of May, one thousand nine hundred sixteen, and ending
on the fifth day of April, one thousand nine hundred seventeen, in
the case of a veteran who during the period served in Mexico, on
its borders or in the waters adjacent to it.
(4) "World War I" means the period beginning on the sixth day
of April, one thousand nine hundred seventeen, and ending on the
eleventh day of November, one thousand nine hundred eighteen, and in the case of a veteran who served with the United States Military
forces in Russia, means the period beginning on the sixth day of
April, one thousand nine hundred seventeen, and ending on the first
day of April, one thousand nine hundred twenty.
(5) "World War II" means the period beginning on the seventh
day of December, one thousand nine hundred forty-one, and ending on
the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred
forty-six.
(6) "Korean conflict" means the period beginning on the
twenty-seventh day of June, one thousand nine hundred fifty, and
ending on the thirty-first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred fifty-five.
(7) "The Vietnam era" means the period beginning on the
twenty-eighth day of February, one thousand nine hundred sixty-one,
and ending on the seventh day of May, one thousand nine hundred
seventy-five, in the case of a veteran who served in the Republic
of Vietnam during that period; and the fifth day of August, one
thousand nine hundred sixty-four, and ending on the seventh day of
May, one thousand nine hundred seventy-five, in all other cases.
(8) "Persian Gulf War" means the period beginning on the
second day of August, one thousand nine hundred ninety, and ending
on the eleventh day of April, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one.
(c) (b) Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this
section, contributions, benefits and service credit with respect to qualified military service shall be provided in accordance with
Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code. For purposes of this
section, "qualified military service" has the same meaning as in
Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code. No military service
credit may be used in more than one retirement system administered
by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board and once used in any
system, may not be used again in any other system. The board is
authorized to determine all questions and make all decisions
relating to this section and, pursuant to the authority granted to
the board in section one, article ten-d of this chapter, may
promulgate rules relating to contributions, benefits and service
credit to comply with Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that any service
in the United States Armed Forces up to five years is credited
service toward retirement for members of the Public Employees
Retirement System.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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