H. B. 3237
(By Delegate Perry)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5-16-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to including certain credit unions
and their employees in the definitions of "employer" and
"employee" for purposes of the West Virginia Public Employees
Insurance Agency.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-16-2 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.
§5-16-2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases as used in this article,
unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context,
have the following meanings:
(1) "Agency" means the Public Employees Insurance Agency
created by this article.
(2) "Director" means the Director of the Public Employees
Insurance Agency created by this article.
(3) "Employee" means any person, including elected officers,
who works regularly full time in the service of the State of West
Virginia and, for the purpose of this article only, the term
"employee" also means any person, including elected officers, who
works regularly full time in the service of a county board of
education; a county, city or town in the state; any employee of a
credit union whose bylaws provide for that credit union to only
have as members state employees or employees of political
subdivisions and their family members; 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; any person who works regularly full time
in the service of the University of West Virginia board of trustees
or the board of directors of the state college system; and any
person who works regularly full time in the service of a combined
city-county health department created pursuant to article two,
chapter sixteen of this code. On and after the first day of
January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, and upon election by a county board of education to allow elected board members to
participate in the Public Employees Insurance Program pursuant to
this article, any person elected to a county board of education
shall be considered to be an "employee" during the term of office
of the elected member: Provided, That the elected member shall pay
the entire cost of the premium if he or she elects to be covered
under this article. Any matters of doubt as to who is an employee
within the meaning of this article shall be decided by the
director.
On or after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven, a person shall be considered an "employee" if that
person meets the following criteria:
(i) Participates in a job-sharing arrangement as defined in
section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of this code;
(ii) Has been designated, in writing, by all other
participants in that job-sharing arrangement as the "employee" for
purposes of this section; and
(iii) Works at least one third of the time required for a
full-time employee.
(4) "Employer" means the State of West Virginia, its boards,
agencies, commissions, departments, institutions or spending units;
a county board of education; 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 any
credit union whose bylaws provide for that credit union to only
have as members state employees or employees of political
subdivisions and their family members; and a combined city-county
health department created pursuant to article two, chapter sixteen
of this code. Any matters of doubt as to who is an "employer"
within the meaning of this article shall be decided by the
director. The term "employer" does not include within its meaning
the National Guard.
(5) "Finance board" means the Public Employees Insurance
Agency finance board created by this article.
(6) "Person" means any individual, company, association,
organization, corporation or other legal entity, including, but not
limited to, hospital, medical or dental service corporations;
health maintenance organizations or similar organization providing
prepaid health benefits; or individuals entitled to benefits under
the provisions of this article.
(7) "Plan", unless the context indicates otherwise, means the
medical indemnity plan, the managed care plan option or the group
life insurance plan offered by the agency.
(8) "Retired employee" means an employee of the state who
retired after the twenty-ninth day of April, one thousand nine
hundred seventy-one, and an employee of the University of West
Virginia board of trustees or the board of directors of the state
college system or a county board of education who retires on or
after the twenty-first day of April, one thousand nine hundred
seventy-two, and all additional eligible employees who retire on or
after the effective date of this article, meet the minimum
eligibility requirements for their respective state retirement
system and whose last employer immediately prior to retirement
under the state retirement system is a participating employer:
Provided, That for the purposes of this article, the employees who
are not covered by a state retirement system shall, in the case of
education employees, meet the minimum eligibility requirements of
the state teachers retirement system and in all other cases, meet
the minimum eligibility requirements of the Public Employees
Retirement System.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include certain credit
unions and their employees in the definitions of "employer" and
"employee" for purposes of the West Virginia Public Employees
Insurance Agency.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.