H. B. 4177
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss (By Request))
[Introduced January 27, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section ten-d, article four, chapter
eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to removing the
requirement for county board of education employees that a
spouse's death must be from accidental causes before the
surviving disabled spouse may receive credit for the deceased
spouse's personal leave days.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten-d, article four, chapter eighteen-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-10d. Use of personal leave days by surviving spouse in
certain circumstances.
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(1) "Surviving spouse" means an employee of a county board
whose spouse was also employed by the same county board at the time
of his or her death; and
(2) "Deceased spouse" means a person who, at the time of his
or her death, was employed by the same board of education as his or
her spouse.
(b) Beginning the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-nine, a county board of education may credit a
surviving spouse with any or all personal leave days to which the
deceased spouse was entitled at the time of the death of the
deceased spouse.
(c) The provisions of this section only shall apply if all the
following conditions are met:
(1) Both spouses were employed by the same county board of
education at the time of the death of the deceased spouse;
(2) The deceased spouse had unused personal leave days which
he or she was entitled to use;
(3) The surviving spouse is an active employee with less than
five days accumulated personal leave;
(4) The death of the deceased spouse was by accident;
(5) (4) It is determined by the county board, on evidence
provided by a licensed physician, that the surviving spouse is physically disabled to work at the position held by the surviving
spouse; and
(6) It is determined by the county board that the cause of the
disability to the surviving spouse arose from the same accident
that resulted in the death of the deceased spouse.
(d) The county board periodically shall review the status of
the surviving spouse and, upon a determination of the county board
that the surviving spouse is able to work at his or her assigned
position, any personal leave days credited to the surviving spouse
pursuant to the terms of this section shall be extinguished.
(e) Personal leave days credited to the surviving spouse
pursuant to this section may be used only for the purposes of this
section and may not be used for any other purpose, including, but
not limited to, the enhancement of retirement or health insurance
benefits.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the requirement
for county board of education employees that a spouse's death must
be from accidental causes before the surviving disabled spouse may
receive credit for the deceased spouse's personal leave days.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.