H. B. 2105
(By Delegate Hutchins)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5-10-17 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to prohibiting legislators from
enrolling in the state retirement system; and, providing
legislators may elect to direct contributions deducted for
retirement pensions into self-directed 401K pension plans.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-10-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
§5-10-17. Retirement system membership.
The membership of the retirement system consists of the
following persons:
(a) All employees, as defined in section two of this article,
who are in the employ of a political subdivision the day preceding
the date it becomes a participating public employer and who continue in the employ of the participating public employer on and
after that date shall become members of the retirement system; and
all persons who become employees of a participating public employer
on or after that date shall thereupon become members of the system;
except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c) of this section.
(b) The membership of the Public Employees Retirement System
shall not include any person who is an active contributing member
of, or who has been retired by, any of the State Teachers
Retirement Systems, the Judges Retirement System, any Retirement
System of the West Virginia State Police, the Deputy Sheriff
Retirement System or any municipal retirement system for either, or
both, police or firefighter; and the Bureau of Employment Programs,
by the Commissioner of the Bureau, may elect whether its employees
will accept coverage under this article or be covered under the
authorization of a separate enactment:
Provided, That the
exclusions of membership do not apply to any member of the State
Legislature, the Clerk of the House of Delegates, the Clerk of the
State Senate or to any member of the legislative body of any
political subdivision provided he or she once becomes a
contributing member of the retirement system:
Provided, however,
That any retired member of the State Police Death, Disability and
Retirement Fund, the West Virginia State Police Retirement System,
the Deputy Sheriff Retirement System and any retired member of any
municipal retirement system for either, or both, police or firefighter may on and after the effective date of this section
become a member of the retirement system as provided in this
article, without receiving credit for prior service as a municipal
police officer or firefighter or as a member of the State Police
Death, Disability and Retirement Fund, the West Virginia State
Police Retirement System or the Deputy Sheriff Retirement System:
Provided further, That any retired member of the State Police
Death, Disability and Retirement Fund, the West Virginia State
Police Retirement System, the Deputy Sheriff Retirement System and
any retired member of any municipal retirement system for either,
or both, police or firefighters, who begins participation in the
retirement system established in this article on or after July 1,
2005, may not receive a combined retirement benefit in excess of
105% of the member's highest annual salary earned while either a
member of the retirement system established in this article or
while a member of the other retirement system or systems from which
he or she previously retired when adding the retirement benefit
from the retirement system created in this article to the
retirement benefit received by that member from the other
retirement system or systems set forth herein from which he or she
previously retired:
And provided further, That the membership of
the retirement system does not include any person who becomes
employed by the Prestera Center for Mental Health Services, Valley
Comprehensive Mental Health Center, Westbrook Health Services or Eastern Panhandle Mental Health Center on or after July 1, 1997:
And provided further, That membership of the retirement system does
not include any person who becomes a member of the Federal Railroad
Retirement Act on or after July 1, 2000.
(c) Any member of the State Legislature, the Clerk of the
House of Delegates, the Clerk of the state Senate and any employee
of the State Legislature whose employment is otherwise classified
as temporary and who is employed to perform services required by
the Legislature for its regular sessions or during the interim
between regular sessions and who has been or is employed during
regular sessions or during the interim between sessions in seven
consecutive calendar years, as certified by the Clerk of the House
in which the employee served, or any member of the legislative body
of any other political subdivision shall become a member of the
retirement system provided he or she notifies the retirement system
in writing of his or her intention to be a member of the system and
files a membership enrollment form as prescribed by the board of
trustees, and each person, upon filing his or her written notice to
participate in the retirement system, shall by that act authorize
the Clerk of the House of Delegates or the Clerk of the state
Senate or such person or legislative agency as the legislative body
of any other political subdivision shall designate to deduct the
member's contribution, as provided in subsection (b), section
twenty-nine of this article, and after the deductions have been made from the member's compensation, the deductions shall be
forwarded to the retirement system.
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, beginning January 1, 2010, no member of the State
Legislature shall otherwise be eligible to participate in the
retirement system established under the provisions of this article:
Provided, That members of the State Legislature shall be afforded
an option to elect to deposit contributions otherwise provided by
section twenty-nine of this article into self-directed retirement
plans under the provisions of section 401(k) of the Internal
Revenue Service Code.
(d) (e) If question arises regarding the membership status of
any employee, the board of trustees has the final power to decide
the question.
(e) (f) Any individual who is a leased employee is not
eligible to participate in the system. For the purposes of this
article, the term "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 authority to
decide the question.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit legislators from
enrolling in the state retirement system while providing
legislators may elect to direct contributions deducted for
retirement pensions into self-directed 401(K) pension plans.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.