H. B. 3092
(By Delegates Boggs, Stowers, Frazier,
Hutchins, Eldridge, Spencer and Perry)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-7A-23 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the State Teachers Retirement
System; and providing that certain beneficiaries receive an
annuity when an eligible spouse has not redeemed the
accumulated contributions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-7A-23 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-23. Withdrawal and death benefits.
(a) Benefits upon withdrawal from service prior to retirement
under the provisions of this article shall be as follows:
(1) A contributor who withdraws from service for any cause
other than death or retirement shall, upon application, be paid his
or her accumulated contributions up to the end of the fiscal year preceding the year in which application is made, but in no event
shall interest be paid beyond the end of five years following the
year in which the last contribution was made:
Provided, That such
contributor, at the time of application, is then no longer under
contract, verbal or otherwise, to serve as a teacher; or
(2) If
such the contributor has completed twenty years of
total service, he or she may elect to receive at retirement age an
annuity which shall be computed as provided in this article
:
Provided, That if
such the contributor has completed at least five,
but fewer than twenty, years of total service in this state, he or
she may elect to receive at age sixty-two an annuity which shall be
computed as provided in this article. The contributor must notify
the retirement board in writing concerning the election. If the
contributor has completed fewer than five years of service in this
state, he or she shall be subject to the provisions as outlined in
subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(b) Benefits upon the death of a contributor prior to
retirement under the provisions of this article shall be paid as
follows:
(1) If the
contributor was at least fifty years old and if his
or her contributor's total service as a teacher was at least
twenty-five years at the time of his or her death, then the
surviving spouse of the deceased, provided the spouse is designated
as the sole refund beneficiary, is eligible for an annuity computed as though the deceased were actually a retired teacher at the time
of death and had selected a survivorship option which pays the
spouse the same monthly amount which would have been received by
the deceased
: Provided, That the provisions of this section are
retroactive to all members who died on or after July 1, 2002 and
whose eligible spouse has not redeemed the accumulated
contributions as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection; or
(2) If the facts do not permit payment under subdivision (1)
of this subsection, then the following sum shall be paid to the
refund beneficiary of the contributor: The contributor's
accumulated contributions up to the year of his or her death plus
an amount equal to his or her employee contributions. The latter
sum shall emanate from the Employer's Accumulation Fund.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that certain
beneficiaries receive an annuity when an eligible spouse has not
redeemed the accumulated contributions after the death of the
contributor spouse.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.