Senate Bill No. 629
(By Senators Craigo, Bowman, McKenzie, Sprouse, Unger, McCabe,
Kessler, Minard, Love and Jackson)
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[Introduced March 26, 2001; referred to the Committee on
Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article seven-a, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section two, article seven-b of said chapter, all relating to
permitting job-sharing teachers to participate in retirement.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article seven-a, chapter eighteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended be amended and reenacted; and that section two, article
seven-b of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-3. Definitions.
(1) "Teacher member" means the following persons, if regularly
employed for a full-time service position: (a) Any person employed
for instructional service in the public schools of West Virginia;
(b) principals; (c) public school librarians; (d) superintendents
of schools and assistant county superintendents of schools; (e) any
county school attendance director holding a West Virginia teacher's
certificate; (f) the executive secretary of the retirement board;
(g) members of the research, extension, administrative or library
staffs of the public schools; (h) the state superintendent of
schools, heads and assistant heads of the divisions under his or
her supervision, or any other employee thereunder under the state
superintendent performing services of an educational nature; (i)
employees of the state board of education who are performing
services of an educational nature; (j) any person employed in a
nonteaching capacity by the state board of education, the West
Virginia board of regents [abolished] the West Virginia higher
education governing board, any county board of education, the state
department of education or the teachers retirement board, if such
the person was formerly employed as a teacher in the public
schools; (k) all classroom teachers, principals and educational administrators in schools under the supervision of the department
division of corrections, the division of health or the division of
human services and: (l) employees Any employee of the state board
of school finance, if such the person was formerly employed as a
teacher in the public schools.
(2) "Nonteaching member" means any person, except a teacher
member, who is regularly employed for a full-time service by: (a)
Any county board of education; (b) the state board of education;
(c) the West Virginia board of regents [abolished] the West
Virginia higher education governing board; or (d) the teachers
retirement board.
(3) "Members of the administrative staff of the public
schools" means deans of instruction, deans of men, deans of women,
and financial and administrative secretaries.
(4) "Members of the extension staff of the public schools"
means every agricultural agent, boys' and girls' club agent, and
every member of the agricultural extension staff whose work is not
primarily stenographic, clerical or secretarial.
(5) "Retirement system" means the state teachers retirement
system provided for in this article.
(6) "Present teacher" means any person who was a teacher within the thirty-five years beginning the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-four, and whose membership in the
retirement system is currently active.
(7) "New entrant" means a teacher who is not a present
teacher.
(8) "Regularly employed for a full-time service position"
means employment in a regular position or job throughout the
employment term, including job-sharing arrangements as provided in
article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code regardless of the
number of hours or days worked or the method of pay.
(9) "Regularly employed for a full-time service position"
means employment in a regular position or job throughout the
employment term regardless of the number of hours or days worked or
the method of pay.
(10) "Employment term" means employment for at least ten
months, a month being defined as twenty employment days.
(11) "Present member" means a present teacher who is a member
of the retirement system.
(12) "Total service" means all service as a teacher while a
member of the retirement system since last becoming a member and,
in addition thereto, credit for prior service, if any.
(13) "Prior service" means all service as a teacher completed
prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
forty-one, and all service of a present member who was employed as
a teacher, and did not contribute to a retirement account because
he or she was legally ineligible for membership during the service.
(14) "Average final salary" means the average of the five
highest fiscal year salaries earned as a member within the last
fifteen fiscal years of total service credit, including military
service as provided herein in section seventeen of this article, or
if total service is less than fifteen years, the average annual
salary for the period on which contributions were made.
(15) "Accumulated contributions" means all deposits and all
deductions from the earnable compensation of a contributor minus
the total of all supplemental fees deducted from his or her
compensation.
(16) "Regular interest" means interest at three percent
compounded annually, or a higher earnable rate if set forth in the
formula established in legislative rules, series seven of the
consolidated public retirement board.
(17) "Refund interest" means interest compounded, according to
the formula established in legislative rules, series seven of the consolidated public retirement board.
(18) "Employer" means the agency of and within the state which
has employed or employs a member.
(19) "Contributor" means a member of the retirement system who
has an account in the teachers accumulation fund.
(20) "Beneficiary" means the recipient of annuity payments
made under the retirement system.
(21) "Refund beneficiary" means the estate of a deceased
contributor, or a person as he the deceased contributor shall have
nominated as beneficiary of his the deceased's contributions by
written designation duly executed and filed with the retirement
board.
(22) "Earnable compensation" means the full compensation
actually received by members for service as teachers whether or not
a part of the compensation is received from other funds, federal or
otherwise, than those provided by the state or its subdivisions.
Allowances from employers for maintenance of members shall be
considered a part of earnable compensation for such the members
whose allowances were approved by the teachers retirement board and
contributions to the teachers retirement system were made, in
accordance therewith, on or before the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty.
(23) "Annuities" means the annual retirement payments for life
granted beneficiaries in accordance with this article.
(24) "Member" means a member of the retirement system.
(25) "Public schools" means all publicly supported schools,
including normal schools, colleges and universities in this state.
(26) "Deposit" means a voluntary payment to his or her account
by a member.
(27) The masculine gender shall be construed so as to include
the feminine.
(27) Age in excess of seventy years shall be is considered to
be seventy years.
ARTICLE 7B. TEACHERS' DEFINED CONTRIBUTION RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7B-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless the context clearly requires
a different meaning:
(1) "Defined contribution system" or "system" means the
teachers' defined contribution retirement system created and
established by this article;
(2) "Existing retirement system" means the state teachers
retirement system established in article seven-a of this chapter;
(3) "Existing employer" means any employer who employed or employs a member of the existing retirement system;
(4) "Consolidated board" or "board" means the consolidated
public retirement board created and established pursuant to article
ten-d, chapter five of this code;
(5) "Member" or "employee" means the following persons, if
regularly employed for a full-time service position: (a) Any
person employed for instructional service in the public schools of
West Virginia; (b) principals; (c) public school librarians; (d)
superintendents of schools and assistant county superintendents of
schools; (e) any county school attendance director holding a West
Virginia teacher's certificate; (f) the executive secretary of the
retirement board; (g) members of the research, extension,
administrative or library staffs of the public schools; (h) the
state superintendent of schools, heads and assistant heads of the
divisions under his or her supervision, or any other employee
thereunder under the state superintendent of schools performing
services of an educational nature; (i) employees of the state board
of education who are performing services of an educational nature;
(j) any person employed in a nonteaching capacity by the state
board of education, any county board of education, the state
department of education or the teachers retirement board, if such the person was formerly employed as a teacher in the public
schools; (k) all classroom teachers, principals and educational
administrators in schools under the supervision of the department
division of corrections, the department of health and human
resources or the department division of human services; (l) any
person who is regularly employed for a full-time service position
by any county board of education, the state board of education or
the teachers retirement board; and (m) the administrative staff of
the public schools including deans of instruction, deans of men and
deans of women, and financial and administrative secretaries;
(6) "Regularly employed for a full-time service position"
means employment in a regular position or job throughout the
employment term, including job sharing arrangements as provided in
article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code regardless of the
number of hours or days worked or the method of pay;
(7) "Year of employment service" means employment for at least
ten months, a month being defined as twenty employment days:
Provided, That no more than one year of service may be accumulated
in any twelve-month period;
(8) "Employer" means the agency of and within the state which
has employed or employs a member;
(9) "Compensation" means the full compensation actually
received by members for service whether or not a part of such the
compensation is received from other funds, federal or otherwise,
than those provided by the state or its subdivisions;
(10) "Public schools" means all publicly supported schools,
including normal schools, colleges and universities in this state;
(11) "Member contribution" means an amount reduced from the
employee's regular pay periods, and deposited into the member's
individual annuity account within the defined contribution
retirement system;
(12) "Employer contribution" means an amount deposited into
the member's individual annuity account on a periodic basis
coinciding with the employee's regular pay period by an employer
from its own funds;
(13) "Annuity account" or "annuity" means an account
established for each member to record the deposit of member
contributions and employer contributions and interest, dividends or
other accumulations credited on behalf of the member;
(14) "Retirement" means a member's withdrawal from the active
employment of a participating employer and completion of all
conditions precedent to retirement;
(15) "Permanent, total disability" means a mental or physical
incapacity requiring the absence from employment service for at
least six months: Provided, That such the incapacity is shown by
an examination by a physician or physicians selected by the board;
(16) "Plan year" means the twelve-month period commencing on
the first day of July of any designated year and ending on the
following thirtieth day of June;
(17) "Required beginning date" means the first day of April of
the calendar year following the later of: (a) The calendar year in
which the member attains age seventy one and one-half; or (b) the
calendar year in which the member retires or otherwise ceases
employment with a participating employer; and
(18) "Internal Revenue Code" means the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as amended.
NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to
permit teachers employed
in job-sharing positions to participate in the state retirement
systems for teachers.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.