Senate Bill No. 752
(By Senators Helmick, Wells and Bowman)
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[Introduced February 18, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §5-16-18 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to authorizing the Public Employees
Insurance Agency to charge interest to employers on amounts
not timely paid.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-16-18 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES INSURANCE ACT.
§5-16-18. Payment of costs by employer; schedule of insurance;
special funds created; duties of Treasurer with
respect thereto.
(a) All employers operating from state general revenue or
special revenue funds or federal funds or any combination of those
funds shall budget the cost of insurance coverage provided by the
Public Employees Insurance Agency to current and retired employees
of the employer as a separate line item, titled "PEIA", in its
respective annual budget and are responsible for the transfer of funds to the director for the cost of insurance for employees
covered by the plan. Each spending unit shall pay to the director
its proportionate share from each source of funds. Any agency
wishing to charge General Revenue Funds for insurance benefits for
retirees under section thirteen of this article shall provide
documentation to the director that the benefits cannot be paid for
by any special revenue account or that the retiring employee has
been paid solely with General Revenue Funds for twelve months prior
to retirement.
(b) If the general revenue appropriation for any employer,
excluding county boards of education, is insufficient to cover the
cost of insurance coverage for the employer's participating
employees, retired employees and surviving dependents, the employer
shall pay the remainder of the cost from its "personal services" or
"unclassified" line items. The amount of the payments for county
boards of education shall be determined by the method set forth in
section twenty-four, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of this code:
Provided, That local excess levy funds shall be used only for the
purposes for which they were raised:
Provided, however, That after
approval of its annual financial plan, but in no event later than
the thirty-first day of December of each year, the finance board
shall notify the Legislature and county boards of education of the
maximum amount of employer premiums that the county boards of
education shall pay for covered employees during the following
fiscal year.
(c) All other employers not operating from the state General Revenue Fund shall pay to the director their share of premium costs
from their respective budgets. The finance board shall establish
the employers' share of premium costs to reflect and pay the actual
costs of the coverage including incurred but not reported claims.
(d) The contribution of the other employers (namely: A
county, city or town) in the state; any separate corporation or
instrumentality established by one or more counties, cities or
towns, as permitted by law; any corporation or instrumentality
supported in most part by counties, cities or towns; any public
corporation charged by law with the performance of a governmental
function and whose jurisdiction is coextensive with one or more
counties, cities or towns; any comprehensive community mental
health center or comprehensive mental retardation facility
established, operated or licensed by the Secretary of Health and
Human Resources pursuant to section one, article two-a, chapter
twenty-seven of this code, and which is supported in part by state,
county or municipal funds; and a combined city-county health
department created pursuant to article two, chapter sixteen of this
code for their employees shall be the percentage of the cost of the
employees' insurance package as the employers determine reasonable
and proper under their own particular circumstances.
(e) The employee's proportionate share of the premium or cost
shall be withheld or deducted by the employer from the employee's
salary or wages as and when paid and the sums shall be forwarded to
the director with any supporting data as the director may require.
(f) All moneys received by the Public Employees Insurance Agency shall be deposited in a special fund or funds as are
necessary in the State Treasury and the Treasurer of the state is
custodian of the fund or funds and shall administer the fund or
funds in accordance with the provisions of this article or as the
director may from time to time direct. The Treasurer shall pay all
warrants issued by the State Auditor against the fund or funds as
the director may direct in accordance with the provisions of this
article. All funds received by the agency, including, but not
limited to, basic insurance premiums, administrative expenses and
optional life insurance premiums, shall be deposited, as determined
by the director, in any of the investment pools with the West
Virginia Investment Management Board, including, but not limited
to, the equity and fixed income pools, with the interest income or
other earnings a proper credit to all such funds for the benefit of
the Public Employees Insurance Agency.
(g) The Public Employees Insurance Agency may recover an
additional interest amount from any employer that fails to pay in
a timely manner any premium or minimum annual employer payment, as
defined in article sixteen-d of this chapter, which is due and
payable to the Public Employees Insurance Agency or the Retiree
Health Benefit Trust. The agency may recover the amount due plus
an additional amount equal to two and one half percent per annum of
the amount due. Accrual of interest owed by the delinquent
employer commences upon the thirty-first day following the due date
for the amount owed and shall continue until receipt by the Public
Employees Insurance Agency of the delinquent payment. Interest shall compound every thirty days.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit the Public
Employees Insurance Agency to charge interest to employers upon
amounts not paid on time.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.