H. B. 4484

(By Delegate Campbell)
[Introduced February 14, 2002; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]

A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-six, article seven-a, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the right of members to name a new joint annuitant upon the death of a spouse who is a joint annuitant.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-six, 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-26. Computation of annuities.
Annuitants whose annuities were approved by the retirement board effective before the first day of July, first, one thousand nine hundred eighty, shall be paid the annuities which were approved by the retirement board.
Annuities approved by the board effective after the thirtieth day of June, thirty, one thousand nine hundred eighty, shall be computed as provided herein.
Upon establishment of eligibility for a retirement allowance, a member shall be granted an annuity which shall be the sum of the following:
(a) Two percent of the member's average salary multiplied by his or her total service credit as a teacher. In this paragraph "average salary" shall mean the average of the highest annual salaries received by the member during any five years contained within his or her last fifteen years of total service credit: Provided, That the highest annual salary used in this calculation for certain members employed by the West Virginia higher education policy commission under its control shall be four thousand eight hundred dollars, as provided by section fourteen-a of this article and chapter;
(b) The actuarial equivalent of the voluntary deposits of the member in his or her individual account up to the time of his or her retirement, with regular interest.
The disability annuities of all teachers retired for disability shall be based upon a disability table prepared by a competent actuary approved by the retirement board.
Upon the death of an annuitant who qualified for an annuity as a the surviving spouse of an active member or because of permanent disability, the estate of the deceased or beneficiary designated for such purpose, shall be paid the difference, if any, between the member's contributions with regular interest thereon, and the sum of the annuity payments. Upon the death of a spouse, a retirant may elect an annuity option approved by the retirement board in an amount adjusted on a fair basis to be of equal actuarial value as the annuity prospectively in effect relative to the surviving member at the time the new option is elected.
All annuities shall be paid in twelve monthly payments. In computing the monthly payments, fractions of a cent shall be deemed a cent. The monthly payments shall cease with the payment for the month within which the beneficiary dies, and shall begin with the payment for the month succeeding the month within which the annuitant became eligible under this article for the annuity granted; in no case, however, shall an annuitant receive more than four monthly payments which are retroactive after the board receives his or her application for annuity. Beginning with the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the monthly payments shall be made on the twenty-fifth day of each month, except the month of December, when the payment shall be made on the eighteenth day of December. If the date of payment falls on a holiday, Saturday or Sunday, then the payment shall be made on the preceding workday.
In case the retirement board receives data affecting the approved annuity of a retired teacher, the annuity shall be changed in accordance with the data, the change being effective with the payment for the month within which the board received the new data.
Any person who has attained the age of sixty-five and who has served at least twenty-five years as a teacher prior to the first day of July, one, one thousand nine hundred forty-one, shall be eligible for prior service credit and for prior service pensions as prescribed in this section.


Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.