H. B. 2236
(By Delegates Manuel and Doyle)
[Introduced
February 15, 2001
; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section thirteen, article seven-a,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section seven, article seven-b of said chapter, all relating
to allowing teachers retirement system members with
twenty-five or more years of service under the teachers
retirement system or who have combined service under the
retirement system with service as a county school board
member, to reinstate retirement benefits upon paying back the
amount withdrawn plus interest regardless of whether they have
been reemployed more than six months since the date of their
past employment; providing that former school board members who have twenty-five or more years of combined service with
such members' service under the teachers retirement system may
be credited within the teachers retirement system for service
as a school board member; and providing the retirement board
shall prescribe by rule how to calculate the school board
credit.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirteen, article seven-a, chapter eighteen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section seven, article
seven-b of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-13. Membership in retirement system; cessation of
membership; reinstatement of withdrawn service.
The membership of the retirement system shall consist of the
following:
(a) New entrants, whose membership in the system shall be
compulsory upon employment as teachers and nonteachers.
(b) The membership of the retirement system shall not include
any person who is an active member of or who has been retired by the West Virginia public employees retirement system, the judge's
retirement system, or the retirement system of the
department of
public safety West Virginia state police or the supplemental
retirement system as provided in section four-a, article
twenty-three of this chapter. The membership of any person in the
retirement system shall cease:
(1) Upon the withdrawal of accumulated contributions after the
cessation of service; or (2) upon retirement; or (3) at death; or
(4) if service amounts to fewer than five years in any period of
ten consecutive years.
(c) Any former member of the retirement system who has
withdrawn accumulated contributions but subsequently reenters the
retirement system shall be permitted to repay to the retirement
fund the amount withdrawn, plus interest at a rate of six percent,
compounded annually from the date of withdrawal to the date of
repayment:
Provided, That no such repayment may be made until the
former member has completed two years of contributory service after
reentry; and such member shall be accorded all the rights to prior
service and experience as were held at the time of withdrawal of
such accumulated contributions:
Provided, however, That no withdrawn service may be reinstated that has been transferred to
another retirement system from which the member is currently or
will in the future draw benefits based on the same service
unless
the member has twenty-five or more years of service under the
teachers retirement system or combined service with such system,
including years spent as a member of a county school board, as
provided for under section seven, article seven-b of this chapter.
The interest paid shall be deposited in the reserve fund.
(d) No member shall be eligible for prior service credit
unless he or she is eligible for prior service pension, as
prescribed by section twenty-two of this article; however, a new
entrant who becomes a present teacher as provided in this paragraph
shall be deemed eligible for prior service pension upon retirement.
(e) Any former school board member may be credited for prior
service based upon each year spent as a school board member. The
retirement board shall credit each member with the prior service to
which he or she is entitled based upon such rules as the board
shall from time to time adopt and based upon sound actuarial
principles. In providing the credit for years spent as a school
board member, the board shall require the payment of a sum based
upon a percentage of the gross compensation paid to the member in each past year in which he or she served as a member of the school
board.
(e) (f) Any individual who is a leased employee shall not be
eligible to participate in the system. For purposes of this
system, a "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 power to
decide the question.
ARTICLE 7B. TEACHERS' DEFINED CONTRIBUTION RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7B-7. Participation in teachers' defined contribution
retirement system; limiting participation in existing
teachers' retirement system.
Beginning the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-one, the teachers' defined contribution retirement system
shall be the single retirement program for all new employees whose
employment commences on or after that date. No additional new
employees except as may be provided herein may be admitted to the
existing retirement system. Members of the existing retirement
system whose employment continues beyond the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, are not affected by this article
and shall continue to contribute and participate in the existing
system without change in provisions or benefits.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section twenty-three,
article seven-a of this chapter, any employee whose employment
terminates after the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-one, who is later reemployed by an employer shall be
eligible for membership only in the teachers' defined contribution
system:
Provided, That if such reemployment with an existing
employer occurs not more than six months after the employee's
previous employment, he or she shall be entitled to readmission to
the existing retirement system in which he or she was originally a
member:
Provided, however, That if such employee has five
or more
years but less than twenty-five years of credited service in the
existing retirement system
or combined service with the system,
including years spent as a member of a county school board, he or
she shall be entitled to readmission into the existing retirement
system in which he or she was originally a member so long as he or
she has not withdrawn his or her contributions from the existing
retirement system.
In the event, however, he or she has twenty-five years of service or combined service, then he or she
shall be entitled to readmission into the existing retirement
system regardless of whether their reemployment occurs more than
six months after their previous employment: Provided further, That
if such employee
without a minimum of twenty-five years of service
or combined service, including years spent as a school board
member, has withdrawn his or her contribution from the existing
retirement system, then readmission shall not be permitted and the
employee will be entitled only to the defined contribution system.
An employee whose employment with an employer was suspended or
terminated while he or she served as an officer with a statewide
professional teaching association is eligible for readmission to
the existing retirement system in which he or she was a member.
Any employee reemployed with an employer on or after the first day
of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, who had five or more
years credited service in the teachers' defined benefit retirement
system may elect readmission to the teachers' defined benefit
retirement system in which he or she was originally a member. Any
employee reemployed between the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-one, and the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-five, and who was required to participate in the teachers' defined contribution system but now elects, pursuant
to the provisions of this section, readmission to the teachers'
defined benefit retirement system shall pay an additional
contribution to the teachers' defined benefit retirement system
equal to one and one-half percent of his or her annual gross
compensation earned for each year he or she participated in the
teachers' defined contribution system and shall transfer all member
and employer contributions and investment earnings therefrom from
the teacher defined contribution system to the teachers' defined
benefit system and shall receive service credit for the time the
member participated in the defined contribution system as if that
participation had been in the teachers' defined benefit retirement
system. Any member making an election under the provisions of this
section to reenter the teachers' defined benefit retirement system
who is currently a member of the defined contribution retirement
system must do so on or before the first day of January, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-six. Any other member reemployed must
make the election as to the retirement system that he or she will
be a member of at the time he or she is reemployed.
An employee whose employment with an employer or an existing
employer is suspended as a result of an approved leave of absence, approved maternity or paternity break in service, or any other
approved break in service authorized by the board, is eligible for
readmission to the existing retirement system in which he or she
was a member.
In all cases where a question exists as to readmission to
membership in the existing retirement system, the board shall
decide the question.
Any individual who is a leased employee shall not be eligible
to participate in the system. For purposes of this system, a
"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 power to decide the question.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow persons who
withdraw retirement funds from the teachers retirement system who
have 25 or more years of service, including years spent as a school
board member to buy back into the retirement system. The bill also
allows such members with 25 or more years of service to be credited
for years on the school board in the event they provide
contributions in compliance with actuarially sound rules prescribed
by the retirement board consisting of an amount equal to some
percentage of their past gross compensation paid in each year while
they sat as a school board member.
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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