H. B. 4643
(By Delegate Warner)
[Introduced February 23, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article ten, chapter
five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to employees of the state
rail authority; prohibiting state employees from participating
in both the public employee and the federal railroad
retirement systems.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article ten, chapter five of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
ยง5-10-17. Retirement system membership.
The membership of the retirement system consists of the
following persons:
(a) All employees, as defined in section two of this article,
who are in the employ of a political subdivision the day preceding
the date it becomes a participating public employer and who
continue in the employ of the participating public employer on and
after that date shall become members of the retirement system; and
all persons who become employees of a participating public employer
on or after that date shall thereupon become members of the system;
except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c) of this section.
(b) The membership of the retirement system shall not include
any person who is a member of, or who has been retired by, the
state teachers retirement system, the judges retirement system, the
retirement system of the division of public safety West Virginia
state police, or any municipal retirement system for either, or
both, policemen or firemen; and the bureau of employment programs,
by the commissioner of the bureau, may elect whether its employees
will accept coverage under this article or be covered under the
authorization of a separate enactment: Provided, That the
exclusions of membership shall not apply to any member of the state
Legislature, the clerk of the House of Delegates, the clerk of the
state Senate or to any member of the legislative body of any
political subdivision provided he or she once becomes a
contributing member of the retirement system: Provided, however,
That any retired member of the retirement system of the division of
public safety West Virginia state police, and any retired member of any municipal retirement system for either, or both, policemen or
firemen may on and after the effective date of this section become
a member of the retirement system as provided in this article,
without receiving credit for prior service as a municipal policeman
or fireman or as a member of the division of public safety West
Virginia state police: Provided further, That the membership of
the retirement system does not include any person who becomes
employed by the Prestera center for mental health services, valley
comprehensive mental health center, Westbrook health services or
eastern panhandle mental health center on or after the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven: And provided
further, That membership of the retirement system does not include
any person who becomes a member of the Federal Railroad Retirement
Act on or after the first day of July, two thousand;
(c) Any member of the state Legislature, the clerk of the
House of Delegates, the clerk of the state Senate and any employee
of the state Legislature whose employment is otherwise classified
as temporary and who is employed to perform services required by
the Legislature for its regular sessions or during the interim
between regular sessions and who has been or is so employed during
regular sessions or during the interim between sessions in seven
consecutive calendar years, as certified by the clerk of the House
in which the employee served, or any member of the legislative body
of any other political subdivision shall become a member of the retirement system provided he or she notifies the retirement system
in writing of his or her intention to be a member of the system and
files a membership enrollment form as prescribed by the board of
trustees, and each person, upon filing his or her written notice to
participate in the retirement system, shall by that act authorize
the clerk of the House of Delegates or the clerk of the state
Senate or such any person or legislative agency as the legislative
body of any other political subdivision shall designate to deduct
the member's contribution, as provided in subsection (b), section
twenty-nine of this article, and after the deductions have been
made from the member's compensation, the deductions shall be
forwarded to the retirement system.
(d) If question arises regarding the membership status of any
employee, the board of trustees has the final power to decide the
question.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit future employees
of the state rail authority, who are eligible to participate in the
federal railroad retirement system, from also participating in 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.