Senate Bill No. 156
(By Senators Unger and Kessler)
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[Introduced January 19, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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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 removing the cap on scholarship funds
for surviving dependent children of certain deceased members
of the West Virginia State Police.
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
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 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
completely 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.
ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§15-2A-12. Awards and benefits to dependents of member - When
member 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 member 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 members while the member was engaged in the performance of his or her duties as a member of the
department, or the survivor of a member 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 immediately available and
which shall be the greater of:
(1) An amount equal to nine tenths of the base 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 his or her death, the
amount of monthly salary shall be annualized for the purpose of
determining the benefit; or
(2) The sum of ten thousand dollars.
In addition thereto, the surviving spouse is entitled to
receive and there shall be paid to the person one hundred fifty
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
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 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.
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 seven thousand five
hundred dollars, 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 completely offset
the expenses of tuition, room and board, books, fees or other costs
incurred in a course of study at any of these institutions so 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.
Awards and benefits for a surviving spouse or dependents of a member received under any section or any of the provisions of this
retirement system are in lieu of receipt of any benefits for these
persons under the provisions of any other state retirement system.
Receipt of benefits under any other state retirement system is in
lieu of any right to receive any benefits under this retirement
system, so that only a single receipt of state retirement benefits
occurs.
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, two thousand five, be the same levels of benefits
as provided by this section as amended and reenacted during the
fourth extraordinary session of the Legislature, two thousand five.
Accordingly, the effective date of the operation of this section as
amended and reenacted during the fourth extraordinary session of
the Legislature, two thousand five, is expressly made retrospective
to the ninth day of April, two thousand five.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the cap on
scholarship funds for surviving dependent children of certain
deceased members of the West Virginia State Police.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.