H. B. 3238
(By Delegate Hutchins)
[Introduced February 23, 2007; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5-10-17 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to prohibiting legislators from
enrolling in the state retirement system; and, providing
legislators may elect to direct contributions deducted for
retirement pensions into self-directed 401K pension plans.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-10-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
§5-10-17. 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 Public Employees Retirement System
shall not include any person who is an active contributing member
of, or who has been retired by, any of the state teachers
retirement systems, the Judges Retirement System, any Retirement
System of the West Virginia State Police, the Deputy Sheriff
Retirement System or any municipal retirement system for either, or
both, police or firefighter; 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 do 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 State Police Death, Disability and
Retirement Fund, the West Virginia State Police Retirement System,
the Deputy Sheriff Retirement System and any retired member of any
municipal retirement system for either, or both, police or
firefighter 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
police officer or firefighter or as a member of the State Police Death, Disability and Retirement Fund, the West Virginia State
Police Retirement System or the Deputy Sheriff Retirement System:
Provided further, That any retired member of the State Police
Death, Disability and Retirement Fund, the West Virginia State
Police Retirement System, the Deputy Sheriff Retirement System and
any retired member of any municipal retirement system for either,
or both, police or firefighters, who begins participation in the
retirement system established in this article on or after the first
day of July, two thousand five, may not receive a combined
retirement benefit in excess of one hundred five percent of the
member's highest annual salary earned while either a member of the
retirement system established in this article or while a member of
the other retirement system or systems from which he or she
previously retired when adding the retirement benefit from the
retirement system created in this article to the retirement benefit
received by that member from the other retirement system or systems
set forth herein from which he or she previously retired: And
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 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 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) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, beginning the first day of January, two thousand eight,
no member of the State Legislature shall otherwise be eligible to
participate in the retirement system established under the provisions of this article: Provided, That members of the State
Legislature shall be afforded an option to elect to deposit
contributions otherwise provided by section twenty-nine of this
article into self-directed retirement plans under the provisions of
section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Service Code.
(d) (e) If question arises regarding the membership status of
any employee, the board of trustees has the final power to decide
the question.
(e) (f) Any individual who is a leased employee is not
eligible to participate in the system. For the purposes of this
article, the term "leased employee" means any individual who
performs services as an independent contractor or pursuant to an
agreement with an employee leasing organization or other similar
organization. If a question arises regarding the status of an
individual as a leased employee, the board has final authority to
decide the question.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit legislators from
enrolling in the State Retirement System while providing
legislators may elect to direct contributions deducted for
retirement pensions into self-directed 401(K) pension plans.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.