Senate Bill No. 95
(By Senator Bailey and Minard)
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[Introduced February 15, 2001; referred to the Committee
on Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finace.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirteen, article sixteen,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section thirty-five-a, article seven-a, chapter eighteen of
said code, all relating to providing that members of the
public employees retirement system who choose deferred
retirement may use accumulated personal leave for the payment
of medical insurance premiums; providing that employees who
elected to take deferred retirement may use accrued annual
leave and sick leave on the basis of two days' retirement
service credit for each day of accrued annual and sick leave
toward an increase in the employee's retirement benefits; providing that surviving spouses of deceased employees may
utilize unused accumulated annual leave of the deceased
employee toward the payment of medical insurance premiums and
that such election shall be retroactive; providing for the
further election of a surviving spouse to receive monetary
value in wages of a deceased employee's accumulated annual
leave; and providing a prior service credit for former members
of the teachers retirement system who were employed in a
nonteaching capacity for a board of education but under
contract with the comprehensive employment and training act.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirteen, article sixteen, chapter five of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section thirty-five-a,
article seven-a, chapter eighteen 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 16. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES INSURANCE ACT.
§5-16-13. Payment of costs by employer and employee; coverage for
employee's spouse and dependents generally; short
term continuance of coverage for involuntary employee
termination; extended insurance coverage for retired
employees with accrued annual leave and sick leave;
increased retirement benefits for retired employees
with accrued annual and sick leave; additional
eligible retired employees; option for health
insurance coverage without life insurance coverage
made available to retirees; health insurance for
surviving dependents of deceased employees.
(a) The director is
hereby authorized to provide under any
contract or contracts entered into under the provisions of this
article that the costs of any
such group hospital and surgical
insurance, group major medical insurance, group prescription drug
insurance, group life and accidental death insurance benefit plan
or plans may be paid by the employer and employee. In addition,
each employee
shall be is entitled to have his or her spouse and
dependents, as defined by the rules of the public employees
insurance agency, included in any group hospital and surgical
insurance, group major medical insurance or group prescription drug insurance coverage:
Provided, That
such the spouse and dependent
coverage
shall be is limited to excess or secondary coverage for
each spouse and dependent who has primary coverage from any other
source. For purposes of this section, the term "primary coverage"
means individual or group hospital and surgical insurance coverage
or individual or group major medical insurance coverage or group
prescription drug coverage in which the spouse or dependent is the
named insured or certificate holder. The director may require
proof regarding spouse and dependent primary coverage and shall
adopt rules governing the nature, discontinuance and resumption of
any employee's coverage for his or her spouse and dependents.
(b) Should a participating employee be terminated from
employment involuntarily or in reduction of work force, the
employee's insurance coverage provided under this article shall
continue for a period of three months at no additional cost to the
employee. An employee discharged for misconduct
shall is not
be
eligible for extended benefits under this section. Coverage may be
extended up to the maximum period of three months, while
administrative remedies contesting the charge of misconduct are
pursued. If the discharge for misconduct
be is upheld, the full
cost of the extended coverage shall be reimbursed by the employee. If the employee is again employed or recalled to active employment
within twelve months of his or her prior termination, he or she
shall not be considered is not a new enrollee and
shall may not be
required to again contribute his or her share of the premium cost,
if he or she had already fully contributed
such his or her share
during the prior period of employment.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (f)
of this
section for higher education full-time faculty employed on an
annual contract basis other than for twelve months, when a
participating employee, who has elected to participate in the plan
before the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-eight, is compelled or required by law to retire before
reaching the age of sixty-five,
or when a participating employee
voluntarily retires as provided by law
or when an employee defers
retirement as provided by law, that employee's accrued annual leave
and sick leave, if any, shall be credited toward an extension of
the insurance coverage provided by this article, according to the
following formulae:
Such Insurance coverage for a retired employee
shall continue one additional month for every two days of annual
leave or sick leave, or both, which the employee had accrued as of
the effective date of his or her retirement. For a retired employee, his or her spouse and dependents,
such insurance coverage
shall continue one additional month for every three days of annual
leave or sick leave, or both, which the employee had accrued as of
the effective date of his or her retirement.
Any member of the
retirement system who chooses deferred retirement may use
accumulated annual leave as a credit towards the payment of medical
insurance premiums.
(d) Notwithstanding the preceding subsection, except as
otherwise provided in subsection (f)
of this section for higher
education full-time faculty employed on an annual contract basis
other than for twelve months, when a participating employee who
elects to participate in the plan on and after the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, is compelled or
required by law to retire before reaching the age of sixty-five,
or
when
such a participating employee voluntarily retires as provided
by law
or when an employee defers retirement as provided by law,
that employee's annual leave or sick leave, if any, shall be
credited toward one half of the premium cost of the insurance
provided by this article, for periods and scope of coverage
determined according to the following formulae: (1) One additional
month of single retiree coverage for every two days of annual leave or sick leave, or both, which the employee had accrued as of the
effective date of his or her retirement; or (2) one additional
month of coverage for a retiree, his or her spouse and dependents
for every three days of annual leave or sick leave, or both, which
the employee had accrued as of the effective date of his or her
retirement. The remaining premium cost shall be borne by
such the
retired employee if he or she elects
such the coverage. For
purposes of this subsection, an employee who has been a participant
under spouse or dependent coverage and who reenters the plan within
twelve months after termination of his or her prior coverage shall
be considered to have elected to participate in the plan as of the
date of commencement of the prior coverage. For purposes of this
subsection, an employee
shall not be considered is not a new
employee after returning from extended authorized leave on or after
the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight.
(e) In the alternative to the extension of insurance coverage
through premium payment provided in the two preceding subsections,
the participating employee's accrued annual leave and sick leave
may be applied, on the basis of two days retirement service credit
for each one day of accrued annual and sick leave, toward an
increase in the employee's retirement benefits with
such the days constituting additional credited service in computation of
such the
benefits under any state retirement system. However,
such the
credited service
shall may not be used in meeting initial
eligibility for retirement criteria, but only as additional service
credited in excess thereof:
Provided, That employees who choose or
have chosen deferred retirement may use accrued annual leave and
sick leave, on the basis of two days' retirement service credit for
each one day of accrued annual and sick leave toward an increase in
the employee's retirement benefits with the days constituting
additional credited service in computation of the benefits under
any state retirement system.
(f) When a participating employee, who is a higher education
full-time faculty member employed on an annual contract basis other
than for twelve months, is compelled or required by law to retire
before reaching the age of sixty-five, or when
such a participating
employee voluntarily retires as provided by law, that employee's
insurance coverage, as provided by this article, shall be extended
according to the following formulae:
Such The insurance coverage
for a retired higher education full-time faculty member, formerly
employed on an annual contract basis other than for twelve months,
shall continue beyond the effective date of his or her retirement one additional year for each three and one-third years of teaching
service, as determined by uniform guidelines established by the
university of West Virginia board of trustees and the board of
directors of the state college system, for individual coverage, or
one additional year for each five years of teaching service for
"family" coverage.
(g) Any employee who retired prior to the twenty-first day of
April, one thousand nine hundred seventy-two, and who also
otherwise meets the conditions of the "retired employee" definition
in section two of this article,
shall be is eligible for insurance
coverage under the same terms and provisions of this article. The
retired employee's premium contribution for
any such the coverage
shall be established by the finance board.
(h) All retirees under the provisions of this article,
including those defined in section two of this article; those
retiring prior to the twenty-first day of April, one thousand nine
hundred seventy-two; and those
hereafter retiring
shall be after
that date are eligible for and permitted to obtain health insurance
coverage. The retired employee's premium contribution for any
such
coverage shall be established by the finance board.
(i) A surviving spouse and dependents of a deceased employee, who was either an active or retired employee just prior to
such the
decease,
shall be is entitled to be included in any group insurance
coverage provided under this article, and
such the spouse and
dependents shall bear the premium cost of
such the insurance
coverage. The finance board shall establish the premium cost of
any
such coverage:
Provided, That any surviving spouse of a
deceased employee, who was either an active or retired employee
immediately prior to his or her death, may use unused accumulated
annual leave for the payment of medical insurance premiums pursuant
to subsection (c) or (d) of this section: Provided, however, That
the right to payment of medical insurance premiums is retroactive
and any surviving spouse previously denied the payment of medical
insurance premiums from the accumulated annual leave of a deceased
spouse has the option, upon request, to receive the benefits that
the deceased spouse was entitled to receive immediately prior to
his or her decease: Provided further, That if the surviving spouse
was not covered by the deceased spouse's medical insurance, or in
the event of the election of the surviving spouse, he or she shall
be paid the monetary equivalent of wages which the accumulated
annual leave would have provided.
(j) In construing the provisions of this section or any other provisions of this code, the Legislature declares that it is not
now nor has it ever been the Legislature's intent that elected
public officials be provided any sick leave, annual leave or
personal leave, and the enactment of this section is based upon the
fact and assumption that no statutory or inherent authority exists
extending sick leave, annual leave or personal leave to elected
public officials and the very nature of
such these positions
preclude the arising or accumulation of
such sick leave, annual
leave or personal leave, so as to be thereafter usable as premium
paying credits for which
such the officials may claim extended
insurance benefits.
(k) An employee, eligible for coverage under the provisions of
this article who has twenty years of service with any agency or
entity participating in the public employees insurance program or
who has been covered by the public employees insurance program for
twenty years may, upon leaving employment with a participating
agency or entity, continue to be covered by the program if the
employee pays one hundred
and five percent of the cost of retiree
coverage:
Provided, That the employee shall elect to continue
coverage under this subsection within two years of the date the
employment with a participating agency or entity is terminated.
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-35a. Prior service credit for former members of the state
teachers retirement system employed in a
nonteaching capacity.
Any former member of the state teachers retirement system who
was employed as a regular full-time employee in a nonteaching
capacity by a board of education,
or as a regular employee in a
nonteaching capacity for a board of education but under contract
with and compensated by the Comprehensive Employment and Training
Act, or as a school principal or school administrator, prior to the
time he
or she became eligible for membership in the state teachers
retirement system,
shall be is eligible for prior service credit
for
such the service. Upon making application to the retirement
board and providing satisfactory evidence, prior service credit
shall be granted and his
or her retirement allowance shall be
recomputed and adjusted to include
such prior service credit. Any
increased retirement allowance resulting from the provisions of
this section
shall
may not be retroactive.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that members of the public employees retirement system may use accumulated personal
leave for the payment of medical premiums. The bill would also
provide for the following: That employees who elected to take
deferred retirement may use accrued annual leave and sick leave on
the basis of two days retirement service credit for each day of
accrued annual and sick leave toward an increase in the employee's
retirement benefits; that surviving spouses of deceased employees
may utilize unused accumulated annual leave of the deceased
employee toward the payment of medical insurance premiums and that
such election shall be retroactive; that an election would exist
for a surviving spouse to receive monetary value in wages of a
deceased employee's accumulated annual leave; and, that a prior
service credit for former members of the teachers retirement system
who were employed in a nonteaching capacity for a board of
education but under contract with the Comprehensive Employment and
Training Act would exist in order to increase retirement benefits.
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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