H. B. 4623
(By Delegates Morgan, C. Miller and Craig)
[Introduced February 18, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-23-4a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to establishing minimum deductions;
and allowing governing boards to increase their contributions
to employee retirement plans to one that exceeds the
contributions of employees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-23-4a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 23. ADDITIONAL POWERS, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF
GOVERNING BOARDS OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
EDUCATION.
§18-23-4a. Supplemental and additional retirement plans for
employees; payroll deductions; authority to match
employee contributions; retroactive curative and
technical corrective action.
(a) Any reference in this code to the "additional retirement
plan" relating to state higher education employees, means the
"higher education retirement plan" provided in this section. Any
state higher education employee participating in a retirement plan
upon the effective date of this section continues to participate in
that plan and may not elect to participate in any other state
retirement plan. Any
such retirement plan continues to be governed
by the provisions of law applicable on the effective date of this
section.
(b) The Higher Education Policy Commission, on behalf of the
governing boards and itself, shall contract for a retirement plan
for its employees, to be known as the "Higher Education Retirement
Plan". The governing boards and Higher Education Policy Commission
shall make periodic deductions from the salary payments due the
employees in the amount they are required to contribute to the
Higher Education Retirement Plan, which deductions shall be
a
minimum of six percent.
(c) The Higher Education Policy Commission and the governing
boards,
with policy commission approval, may contract for a
supplemental retirement plan for any or all of their employees to
supplement the benefits the employees otherwise receive. The
governing boards and Higher Education Policy Commission may make
additional periodic deductions from the salary payments due the
employees in the amount they are required to contribute for the supplemental retirement plan.
(d) The Higher Education Policy Commission shall conduct a
study of the feasibility of offering multiple vendors of retirement
products and services to be offered for the benefit of higher
education employees. The commission shall report the findings of
the study, along with a plan for offering multiple vendors for the
employees, to the Joint Committee on Pensions and Retirement no
later than the first day of December, two thousand one. Upon
approval by the Joint Committee on Pensions and Retirement, the
commission shall provide a choice of vendors to their employees.
Any selection of vendors made by the commission shall be determined
according to a request for proposal issued pursuant to the
provisions of section four, article five, chapter eighteen-b of
this code.
(e) Each governing board and the Higher Education Policy
Commission, by way of additional compensation to their employees,
shall pay an amount,
which at a minimum, equal to equals the
contributions of the employees into the higher education retirement
plan from funds appropriated to the board or commission for
personal services.
As part of an overall institutional
compensation plan, governing boards at their sole discretion may
increase their contribution to employee retirement plans to one
that exceeds the contributions of employees.
(f) Each participating employee has a full and immediate vested interest in the retirement and death benefits accrued from
all the moneys paid into the Higher Education Retirement Plan or a
supplemental retirement plan for his or her benefit. Upon proper
requisition of a board or the Higher Education Policy Commission,
the Auditor shall periodically issue a warrant, payable as
specified in the requisition, for the total contributions so
withheld from the salaries of all participating employees and for
the governing board's or Higher Education Policy Commission's
matching funds.
(g) Any person whose employment commences on or after the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, and who is
eligible to participate in the Higher Education Retirement Plan,
shall participate in that plan and is not eligible to participate
in any other state retirement system:
Provided, That the foregoing
provision does not apply to a person designated as a 21st Century
Learner Fellow pursuant to section eleven, article three, chapter
eighteen-a of this code. The additional retirement plan contracted
for by the governing boards prior to the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-one, remains in effect unless changed
by the Higher Education Policy Commission. Nothing in this section
may be construed to consider employees of the governing boards as
employees of the Higher Education Policy Commission, nor is the
Higher Education Policy Commission responsible or liable for
retirement benefits contracted by, or on behalf of, the governing boards.
(h) It is the intent of the Legislature in amending and
reenacting this section during its two thousand one regular session
solely to:
(1) Maintain the current retirement plans offered to state
higher education employees in their current form;
(2) Clarify that employees of the Higher Education Policy
Commission are participants in the higher education retirement
plan;
(3) Codify the current contribution levels of the governing
boards, the Higher Education Policy Commission and their employees
toward the present higher education retirement plan;
(4) Make mandatory the
minimum contribution levels of the
governing boards and Higher Education Policy Commission;
(5) Establish a standardized retirement policy for
all state
higher education employees as determined by
either the policy
commission
or governing boards;
(6) Clarify the application and purposes of the additional and
supplemental retirement plans previously provided for in this
section; and
(7) Remove obsolete and archaic language.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish minimum
deductions from salary payments due the employees and to allow
governing boards to increase their contributions to employee retirement plans to one that exceeds the contributions of
employees.
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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