Senate Bill No. 461
(By Senators Prezioso, Kessler, Plymale and Hunter)
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[Introduced January 28, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §5-10-22f of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §18-7A-26r of said
code, all relating to increasing the minimum retirement
annuity for certain public employee and teacher retirants.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-10-22f of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §18-7A-26r 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 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
§5-10-22f. Minimum benefit for certain retirants; legislative
declaration; state interest and public purpose.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that an important
state interest exists in providing a minimum retirement annuity for certain retirants (or their beneficiaries) who are credited with
twenty or more years of credited service; that such program
constitutes a public purpose; and that the exclusions of credited
service while an elected public official or while a temporary
legislative employee are reasonable and equitable exclusions for
purposes of determining eligibility for such minimum benefits. For
purposes of this section: (1) "Elected public official" means any
member of the Legislature or any member of the legislative body of
any political subdivision; and (2) "temporary legislative employee"
means any employee of the clerk of the House of Delegates, the
clerk of the Senate, the Legislature or a committee thereof whose
employment is classified as temporary and who is employed to
perform services required by the clerk of the House of Delegates,
the clerk of the Senate, the Legislature or a committee thereof, as
the case may be, for regular sessions, extraordinary sessions
and/or interim meetings of the Legislature.
If the retirement annuity of a retirant (or, if applicable,
his or her beneficiary) with at least twenty years of credited
service as of the effective date of this section is less than
five
hundred seven hundred fifty hundred dollars per month (including
any supplemental benefits or incentives provided by this article),
then the monthly retirement benefit for any such retired member (or
if applicable, his or her beneficiary) shall be increased to
five
hundred seven hundred fifty dollars per month
: Provided, That any
year of credited service while an elected public official or a
temporary legislative employee shall not be taken into account for purposes of this section.
The payment of any minimum benefit under this section shall be
in lieu of, and not in addition to, the payments of any retirement
benefit or supplemental benefit or incentives otherwise provided by
law:
Provided, That the minimum benefit provided herein shall be
subject to any limitations thereon under §415 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
Any minimum benefit conferred herein shall not be retroactive
to the time of retirement and shall apply only to members who have
retired prior to the effective date of this section, or, if
applicable, to beneficiaries receiving benefits under the
retirement system prior to the effective date.
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-26r. Minimum benefit for certain retired members;
legislative declaration; state interest and public
purpose.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that an important
state interest exists in providing a minimum retirement annuity for
certain retired members who are credited with twenty or more years
of total service; that such program constitutes a public purpose;
and that the exclusion of total service for certain employees of
institutions of higher education is a reasonable and equitable
exclusion for purposes of determining eligibility for such minimum
benefits.
If the retirement annuity of a retired member (or if applicable, a spouse thereof) with at least twenty years of total
service is less than five hundred seven hundred fifty dollars per
month (including any supplemental or additional benefits provided
by this article), then the monthly retirement annuity for any such
retired member shall be increased to five hundred seven hundred
fifty dollars per month: Provided, That any year of service while
an employee of an institution of higher education shall not be
taken into account for purposes of this section if his or her
salary is capped under the retirement system at four thousand eight
hundred dollars per year pursuant to section fourteen-a of this
article.
The payment of any minimum benefit under this section shall be
in lieu of, and not in addition to, the payments of any retirement
annuity or supplemental or additional benefits otherwise provided
by this article: Provided, That the minimum benefit provided
herein shall be subject to any limitations thereon under §415 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as the same may be amended.
Any minimum benefit conferred herein shall not be retroactive
to the time of retirement and shall apply only to members who have
retired prior to the effective date of this section, or, if
applicable, to beneficiaries receiving benefits under the
retirement system prior to the effective date.
The minimum benefit provided herein shall be subject to a
recommendation by the Governor for such minimum benefit through the
delivery of an executive message to the Legislature and an
appropriation by the Legislature for such minimum benefit, such appropriation to be made over a continuous six-year period
following the effective date of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the minimum
retirement annuity of certain public employees and teachers from
five hundred dollars to seven hundred and fifty dollars.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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