H. B. 2078
(By Delegate McGraw)
[Introduced February 14, 2001; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section thirteen, article sixteen,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section thirty-five-a, article seven-a, chapter eighteen of
said code, all relating to providing that members of the
public employees retirement system who choose deferred
retirement may use accumulated personal leave for the
payment of medical insurance premiums; providing that
employees who elected to take deferred retirement may use
accrued annual leave and sick leave on the basis of two days
retirement service credit for each day of accrued annual and
sick leave toward an increase in the employee's retirement benefits; providing that surviving spouses of deceased
employees may utilize unused accumulated annual leave of the
deceased employee toward the payment of medical insurance
premiums and that such election shall be retroactive;
providing for the further election of a surviving spouse to
receive monetary value in wages of a deceased employee's
accumulated annual leave; and providing a prior service
credit for former members of the teachers retirement system
who were employed in a nonteaching capacity for a board of
education but under contract with the comprehensive
employment and training act.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirteen, article sixteen, chapter five of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section
thirty-five-a, article seven-a, chapter eighteen of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 5. GENERAL POWERS AND AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNOR,
SECRETARY OF STATE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL; BOARD OF
PUBLIC WORKS; MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES, COMMISSIONS,
OFFICES, PROGRAMS, ETC.
ARTICLE 16. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES INSURANCE ACT.
§5-16-13. Payment of costs by employer and employee; coverage
for employee's spouse and dependents generally;
short termcontinuance of coverage for involuntary
employee termination; extended insurance coverage
for retired employees with accrued annual leave and
sick leave; increased retirement benefits for
retired employees with accrued annual and sick
leave; additional eligible retired employees; option
for health insurance coverage without life insurance
coverage made available to retirees; health
insurance for surviving dependents of deceased
employees.
(a) The director is hereby authorized to provide under any
contract or contracts entered into under the provisions of this
article that the costs of any such group hospital and surgical
insurance, group major medical insurance, group prescription drug
insurance, group life and accidental death insurance benefit plan
or plans may be paid by the employer and employee. In addition,
each employee shall be entitled to have his or her spouse and
dependents, as defined by the rules of the public employees
insurance agency, included in any group hospital and surgical
insurance, group major medical insurance or group prescription drug insurance coverage: Provided, That such the spouse and
dependent coverage shall be limited to excess or secondary
coverage for each spouse and dependent who has primary coverage
from any other source. For purposes of this section, the term
"primary coverage" means individual or group hospital and
surgical insurance coverage or individual or group major medical
insurance coverage or group prescription drug coverage in which
the spouse or dependent is the named insured or certificate
holder. The director may require proof regarding spouse and
dependent primary coverage and shall adopt rules governing the
nature, discontinuance and resumption of any employee's coverage
for his or her spouse and dependents.
(b) Should a participating employee be terminated from
employment involuntarily or in reduction of work force, the
employee's insurance coverage provided under this article shall
continue for a period of three months at no additional cost to
the employee. An employee discharged for misconduct shall may
not be eligible for extended benefits under this section.
Coverage may be extended up to the maximum period of three
months, while administrative remedies contesting the charge of
misconduct are pursued. If the discharge for misconduct be upheld, the full cost of the extended coverage shall be
reimbursed by the employee. If the employee is again employed or
recalled to active employment within twelve months of his or her
prior termination, he or she shall may not be considered a new
enrollee and shall may not be required to again contribute his or
her share of the premium cost, if he or she had already fully
contributed such their share during the prior period of
employment.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (f) of this
section for higher education full-time faculty employed on an
annual contract basis other than for twelve months, when a
participating employee, who has elected to participate in the
plan before the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-eight, is compelled or required by law to retire before
reaching the age of sixty-five, or when a participating employee
voluntarily retires as provided by law, or when an employee
defers retirement as provided by law that employee's accrued
annual leave and sick leave, if any, shall be credited toward an
extension of the insurance coverage provided by this article,
according to the following formulae: Such Insurance coverage for
a retired employee shall continue one additional month for every two days of annual leave or sick leave, or both, which the
employee had accrued as of the effective date of his or her
retirement. For a retired employee, his or her spouse and
dependents, such insurance coverage shall continue one additional
month for every three days of annual leave or sick leave, or
both, which the employee had accrued as of the effective date of
his or her retirement. Any member of the retirement system who
chooses deferred retirement may use accumulated annual leave as
a credit towards the payment of medical insurance premiums.
(d) Notwithstanding the preceding subsection, except as
otherwise provided in subsection (f) of this section for
higher education full-time faculty employed on an annual contract
basis other than for twelve months, when a participating employee
who elects to participate in the plan on and after the first day
of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, is compelled or
required by law to retire before reaching the age of sixty-five,
or when such a participating employee voluntarily retires as
provided by law, or when an employee defers retirement as
provided by law that employee's annual leave or sick leave, if
any, shall be credited toward one half of the premium cost of the
insurance provided by this article, for periods and scope of coverage determined according to the following formulae: (1) One
additional month of single retiree coverage for every two days of
annual leave or sick leave, or both, which the employee had
accrued as of the effective date of his or her retirement; or (2)
one additional month of coverage for a retiree, his or her spouse
and dependents for every three days of annual leave or sick
leave, or both, which the employee had accrued as of the
effective date of his or her retirement. The remaining premium
cost shall be borne by such retired employee if he or she elects
such coverage. For purposes of this subsection, an employee who
has been a participant under spouse or dependent coverage and who
reenters the plan within twelve months after termination of his
or her prior coverage shall be considered to have elected to
participate in the plan as of the date of commencement of the
prior coverage. For purposes of this subsection, an employee
shall not be considered a new employee after returning from
extended authorized leave on or after the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-eight.
(e) In the alternative to the extension of insurance
coverage through premium payment provided in the two preceding
subsections, the participating employee's accrued annual leave and sick leave may be applied, on the basis of two days
retirement service credit for each one day of accrued annual and
sick leave, toward an increase in the employee's retirement
benefits with such the days constituting additional credited
service in computation of such the benefits under any state
retirement system. However, such the credited service shall not
be used in meeting initial eligibility for retirement criteria,
but only as additional service credited in excess thereof:
Provided, That employees who choose or have chosen deferred
retirement may use accrued annual leave and sick leave, on the
basis of two days retirement service credit for each one day of
accrued annual and sick leave toward an increase in the
employee's retirement benefits with such days constituting
additional credited service in computation of the benefits under
any state retirement system.
(f) When a participating employee, who is a higher education
full-time faculty member employed on an annual contract basis
other than for twelve months, is compelled or required by law to
retire before reaching the age of sixty-five, or when such a
participating employee voluntarily retires as provided by law,
that employee's insurance coverage, as provided by this article, shall be extended according to the following formulae: Such The
insurance coverage for a retired higher education full-time
faculty member, formerly employed on an annual contract basis
other than for twelve months, shall continue beyond the effective
date of his or her retirement one additional year for each three
and one-third years of teaching service, as determined by uniform
guidelines established by the university of West Virginia board
of trustees and the board of directors of the state college
system, for individual coverage, or one additional year for each
five years of teaching service for "family" coverage.
(g) Any employee who retired prior to the twenty-first day
of April, one thousand nine hundred seventy-two, and who also
otherwise meets the conditions of the "retired employee"
definition in section two of this article, shall be eligible for
insurance coverage under the same terms and provisions of this
article. The retired employee's premium contribution for any
such coverage shall be established by the finance board.
(h) All retirees under the provisions of this article,
including those defined in section two of this article; those
retiring prior to the twenty-first day of April, one thousand
nine hundred seventy-two; and those hereafter retiring shall be eligible for and permitted to obtain health insurance coverage.
The retired employee's premium contribution for any such coverage
shall be established by the finance board.
(i) A surviving spouse and dependents of a deceased
employee, who was either an active or retired employee just prior
to such the decease, shall be entitled to be included in any
group insurance coverage provided under this article, and such
the spouse and dependents shall bear the premium cost of such the
insurance coverage. The finance board shall establish the
premium cost of any such coverage: Provided, That any surviving
spouse of a deceased employee, who was either an active or
retired employee immediately prior to his or her death, may
utilize unused accumulated annual leave for the payment of
medical insurance premiums pursuant to subsection (c) or (d) of
this section: Provided, however, That the right to payment of
medical insurance premiums is retroactive and any surviving
spouse previously denied the payment of medical insurance
premiums from the accumulated annual leave of a deceased spouse
shall have the option, upon request, to receive the benefits that
the deceased spouse was entitled to receive immediately prior to
his or her decease: Provided further, That if the surviving spouse was not covered by the deceased spouse's medical
insurance, or in the event of the election of the surviving
spouse, he or she shall be paid the monetary equivalent of wages
which the accumulated annual leave would have provided.
(j) In construing the provisions of this section or any
other provisions of this code, the Legislature declares that it
is not now nor has it ever been the Legislature's intent that
elected public officials be provided any sick leave, annual leave
or personal leave, and the enactment of this section is based
upon the fact and assumption that no statutory or inherent
authority exists extending sick leave, annual leave or personal
leave to elected public officials and the very nature of such
these positions preclude the arising or accumulation of such, so
as to be thereafter usable as premium paying credits for which
such the officials may claim extended insurance benefits.
(k) An employee, eligible for coverage under the provisions
of this article who has twenty years of service with any agency
or entity participating in the public employees insurance program
or who has been covered by the public employees insurance program
for twenty years may, upon leaving employment with a
participating agency or entity, continue to be covered by the program if the employee pays one hundred and five percent of the
cost of retiree coverage: Provided, That the employee shall
elect to continue coverage under this subsection within two years
of the date the employment with a participating agency or entity
is terminated.
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-35a. Prior service credit for former members of the
state teachers retirement system employed in a
nonteaching capacity.
Any former member of the state teachers retirement system
who was employed as a regular full-time employee in a nonteaching
capacity by a board of education, or as a regular employee in a
nonteaching capacity for a board of education but under contract
with and compensated by the comprehensive employment and training
act, or as a school principal or school administrator, prior to
the time he or she became eligible for membership in the state
teachers retirement system, shall be eligible for prior service
credit for such service. Upon making application to the
retirement board and providing satisfactory evidence, prior
service credit shall be granted and his or her retirement
allowance shall be recomputed and adjusted to include such prior service credit. Any increased retirement allowance resulting
from the provisions of this section shall may not be retroactive.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that members of
the public employees retirement system may use accumulated
personal leave for the payment of medical premiums. The bill
would also provide for the following: That employees who elected
to take deferred retirement may use accrued annual leave and sick
leave on the basis of two days retirement service credit for each
day of accrued annual and sick leave toward an increase in the
employee's retirement benefits; that surviving spouses of
deceased employees may utilize unused accumulated annual leave of
the deceased employee toward the payment of medical insurance
premiums and that such election shall be retroactive; that an
election would exist for a surviving spouse to receive monetary
value in wages of a deceased employee's accumulated annual leave;
and, that a prior service credit for former members of the
teachers retirement system who were employed in a nonteaching
capacity for a board of education but under contract with the
Comprehensive Employment and Training Act would exist in order to
increase retirement benefits.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.