H. B. 2034
(By Delegate McGraw)
[Introduced January 14, 1998
; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-five, article seven-a,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the
teachers retirement system; eligibility for retirement
allowance and early retirement; and providing for
retirement, with full pension rights, when a member's age
plus years of contributing service equals or exceeds eighty.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-five, article seven-a, chapter eighteen
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-25. Eligibility for retirement allowance.
Any member who has attained the age of sixty years or who
has had thirty-five years of total service as a teacher in West
Virginia, regardless of age, shall be eligible for an annuity.
No new entrant nor present member shall be eligible for an
annuity, however, if either has less than five years of service
to his credit.
Any member who has attained the age of fifty-five years and
who has served thirty years as a teacher in West Virginia shall
be eligible for an annuity.
Any member who has served at least thirty but less than
thirty five years as a teacher in West Virginia and is less than
fifty-five years of age shall be eligible for an annuity, but the
same shall be the reduced actuarial equivalent of the annuity the
member would have received if such member were age fifty five at
the time such annuity was applied for.
Any member may retire with full pension rights, without
reduction of benefits, who has attained the age of fifty years if
the sum of such member's age plus years of contributing service
equals or exceeds eighty: Provided, That such person has at
least twenty years of contributing service, five years of which
may be out of state service or, prior service or any combination thereof not exceeding an aggregate of five years.
The request for any annuity shall be made by the member in
writing to the retirement board, but in case of retirement for
disability, the written request may be made by either the member
or the employer.
A member shall be eligible for annuity for disability if he
satisfies the conditions in both (a) and (b) as follows:
(a) His service as a teacher in West Virginia must total at
least ten years, and service as a teacher must have been
terminated because of disability, which disability must have
caused absence from service for at least six months before his
application for disability annuity is approved.
(b) An examination by a physician or physicians selected by
the retirement board must show that the member is at the time
mentally or physically incapacitated for service as a teacher,
that for such service the disability is total and likely to be
permanent, and that he should be retired in consequence thereof.
Continuance of the disability of the retired teacher shall
be established by medical examination, as prescribed in the
preceding paragraph, annually for five years after retirement,
and thereafter at such times as the retirement board may require.
Payment of the disability annuity provided in this article shall cease immediately if the retirement board finds that the
disability of the retired teacher no longer exists, or if the
retired teacher refuses to submit to medical examination as
required by this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide teacher
retirement eligibility, with full pension rights, when a member's
age plus years of contributing service equals or exceeds eighty.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.