H. B. 2224
(By Delegates Wysong, tabb, Williams,
Overington, Duke, Doyle, Caputo and Blair)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §15-2-29 and §15-2-33 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to increasing
the minimum annual disability benefits amount for a State
Police officer injured in performance of his or her duties
from six thousand dollars to ten thousand dollars; and
increasing the minimum annual death benefits amount for a
surviving spouse of a deceased State Police officer due to the
performance of his or her duties from six thousand dollars to
ten thousand dollars.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-2-29 and §15-2-33 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE.
§15-2-29. Awards and benefits for disability -- Incurred in
performance of duty.
(a) Any member of the department who has not yet entered
retirement status on the basis of age and service and who becomes
partially disabled by injury, illness or disease resulting from any
occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the services
required of members of the department and incurred pursuant to or
while the member was engaged in the performance of his or her
duties as a member of the department shall, if, in the opinion of
the retirement board, he or she is by reason of that cause probably
permanently unable to perform adequately the duties required of him
or her as a member of the department, but is able to engage in any
other gainful employment in a field other than law-enforcement, be
retired from active service by the retirement board. The member
thereafter is entitled to receive annually and there shall be paid
to the member from the Death, Disability and Retirement Fund in
equal monthly installments during the lifetime of the member; or
until the member attains the age of fifty; or until the disability
sooner terminates, one or the other of two amounts, whichever is
greater:
(1) An amount equal to two thirds of the salary received in
the preceding twelve-month employment period:
Provided, That if
the member had not been employed with the department for twelve
months prior to the disability, the amount of monthly salary shall
be annualized for the purpose of determining the benefit; or
(2) The sum of
six ten thousand dollars.
(b) Upon attaining age fifty, the member shall receive the
benefit provided in subsection (c), section twenty-seven of this
article as it would apply to his or her aggregate career earnings
from the department through the day immediately preceding his or
her disability. The recalculation of benefit upon a member
attaining age fifty shall be considered to be a retirement under
the provisions of section twenty-seven of this article, for
purposes of determining the amount of annual annuity adjustment and
for all other purposes of this article:
Provided, That a member
who is partially disabled under this article may not, while in
receipt of benefits for partial disability, be employed as a
law-enforcement officer:
Provided, however, That a member retired
on partial disability under this article may serve as an elected
sheriff or appointed chief of police in the state without a loss of
disability retirement benefits so long as the elected or appointed
position is shown, to the satisfaction of the board, to require the
performance of administrative duties and functions only, as opposed
to the full range of duties of a law-enforcement officer.
(c) If any member not yet in retirement status on the basis of
age and service is found by the board to be permanently and totally
disabled as the result of a physical or mental impairment resulting
from any occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the
services required of members of the department and incurred
pursuant to or while the member was engaged in the performance of his or her duties as a member of the department, the member is
entitled to receive annually and there shall be paid to the member
from the Death, Disability and Retirement Fund in equal monthly
installments during the lifetime of the member or until the
disability sooner terminates, an amount equal to the amount of the
salary received by the member in the preceding twelve-month
employment period:
Provided, That in no event may the amount be
less than fifteen thousand dollars per annum, unless required by
section forty of this article:
Provided, however, That if the
member had not been employed with the department for twelve months
prior to the disability, the amount of monthly salary shall be
annualized for the purpose of determining the benefit.
(d) The superintendent may expend moneys from funds
appropriated for the department in payment of medical, surgical,
laboratory, X-ray, hospital, ambulance and dental expenses and
fees, and reasonable costs and expenses incurred in the purchase of
artificial limbs and other approved appliances which may be
reasonably necessary for any member of the department who has or
becomes temporarily, permanently or totally disabled by injury,
illness or disease resulting from any occupational risk or hazard
inherent in or peculiar to the service required of members of the
department and incurred pursuant to or while such member was or
shall be engaged in the performance of duties as a member of the
department. Whenever the superintendent determines that any disabled member is ineligible to receive any of the aforesaid
benefits at public expense, the superintendent shall, at the
request of the disabled member, refer the matter to the
Consolidated Public Retirement Board for hearing and final
decision. In no case will the compensation rendered to health care
providers for medical and hospital services exceed the then current
rate schedule in use by the Workers' Compensation Commission.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the term "salary" does
not include any compensation paid for overtime service.
§15-2-33. Awards and benefits to dependents of member -- When
member dies in performance of duty, etc.; 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 members while the member was or is engaged in
the performance of his or her duties as a member of the department,
or if the member 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 Death, Disability and Retirement 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 immediately available and which
shall be the greater of:
(1) An amount equal to seven tenths of the salary received in
the preceding twelve-month employment period by the deceased
member:
Provided, That if the member had not been employed with
the department for twelve months prior to the disability, the
amount of monthly salary shall be annualized for the purpose of
determining the benefit; or
(2) The sum of
six ten thousand dollars.
(b) In addition thereto the surviving spouse is entitled to
receive and there shall be paid to the surviving spouse one hundred
dollars 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
Death, Disability and Retirement 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 Death,
Disability and Retirement 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 but 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 seven thousand five
hundred dollars shall be paid from the Death, Disability and
Retirement 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) Awards and benefits for a member's surviving spouse or
dependents received under any section or any of the provisions of
this retirement system shall be in lieu of receipt of any benefits
for those persons under the provisions of any other state
retirement system. Receipt of benefits under any other state retirement system shall be in lieu of any right to receive any
benefits under this retirement system, so that only a single
receipt of retirement benefits occurs.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the term "salary" does
not include any compensation paid for overtime service.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase both the
minimum annual disability benefits amount for a State Police
officer and the minimum annual death benefits amount for a
surviving spouse of a deceased State Police officer from six
thousand dollars to ten thousand dollars.
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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