Senate Bill No. 54
(By Senators Anderson, Ball, Sharpe, Mitchell, Redd,
Minear, Bowman, Love, Kessler, Hunter, McKenzie,
Bailey, Oliverio, Minard, Edgell, Unger, Dawson, Ross and
Tomblin, Mr. President)
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[Introduced January 13, 2000; referred to the Committee
on Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-two, article ten,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to retirement
annuity of public employees and retirants; and increasing
the multiplier.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-two, 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.
§5-10-22. Retirement annuity.
Upon a member's retirement, as provided in this article, he
or she shall receive a straight life annuity equal to one and five-tenths percent of his or her final average salary multiplied
by the number of years, and fraction of a year, of his or her
credited service in force at the time of his or her retirement:
Provided, That after the first day of March, one one thousand
nine hundred seventy, all members retired and all members
retiring shall receive a straight life annuity equal to two
percent of his or her final average salary multiplied by the
number of years, and fraction of a year, of his or her credited
service in force at the time of his or her retirement. After the
first day of July, two thousand, all members retiring shall
receive a straight life annuity equal to two and one-half percent
of his or her final average salary multiplied by the number of
years, and fraction of a year, of his or her credited service in
force at the time of his or her retirement. In either any event,
upon his or her retirement he or she shall have the right to
elect an option provided for in section twenty-four of this
article. All annuity payments shall commence effective the first
of the month following the month in which a member retires or a
member dies leaving a beneficiary entitled to benefits and shall
continue to the end of the month in which said the retirant or
beneficiary dies, and said the annuity payments shall may not be prorated for any portion of a month in which a member retires or
retirant or beneficiary dies.
The annuity of any member of the Legislature who
participates in the retirement system as a member of the
Legislature and who retires under this article or of any former
member of the Legislature who has retired under this article
(including any former member of the Legislature who has retired
under this article and whose annuity was readjusted as of March
one, one thousand nine hundred seventy, under the former
provisions of this section) shall be increased from time to time
during the period of his retirement when and if the legislative
compensation paid under section two, article two-a, chapter four
of this code to a member of the Legislature shall be increased to
the point where a higher annuity would be payable to the retirant
if he were retiring as of the effective date of the latest
increase in such legislative compensation, but on the basis of
his years of credited service to the date of his actual
retirement.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the multiplier for a retirement annuity in the public employees
retirement system from 2 to 2.5.
This bill also deletes language declared improper by the
Supreme Court of Appeals.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.