Senate Bill No. 174
(By Senators Unger and Love)
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[Introduced January 10, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §15-2-33 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §15-2A-12 of said
code, all relating to removing the cap on scholarship funds
for surviving dependent children of certain deceased members
of the West Virginia State Police.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-2-33 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §15-2A-12 of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE.
§15-2-33. Awards and benefits to dependents of member when the
member dies in performance of duty; to dependents of
a duty disability retirant; dependent child
scholarship and amount.
(a) The surviving spouse or the dependent child or children or dependent parent or parents of any member who has lost or loses his
or her life by reason of injury, illness or disease resulting from
an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the
service required of employees while the member was or is engaged in
the performance of his or her duties as an employee of the agency,
or if a retirant dies from any cause after having been retired
pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-nine of this article,
the surviving spouse or other dependent is entitled to receive and
shall be paid from the fund benefits as follows: To the surviving
spouse annually, in equal monthly installments during his or her
lifetime the greater of one or the other of two amounts:
(1) An amount equal to five and one-half percent of the total
salary which was or would have been earned by the deceased member
or duty disability retirant during twenty-five years of service
based on the average earnings of the member or duty disability
retirant while employed by the agency; or
(2) The sum of six thousand dollars.
(b) In addition, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive
and shall be paid one hundred dollars monthly for each dependent
child or children. If the surviving spouse dies or if there is no
surviving spouse, there shall be paid monthly to each dependent
child or children from the fund a sum equal to twenty-five percent
of the surviving spouse's entitlement. If there is no surviving
spouse and no dependent child or children, there shall be paid annually in equal monthly installments from the fund to the
dependent parents of the deceased member or retirant during their
joint lifetimes a sum equal to the amount which a surviving spouse,
without children, would have received:
Provided, That when there
is one dependent parent surviving, that parent is entitled to
receive during his or her lifetime one-half the amount which both
parents, if living, would have been entitled to receive.
(c) Any person qualified as a surviving dependent child under
this section, in addition to any other benefits due under this or
other sections of this article, is entitled to receive a
scholarship to be applied to the career development education of
that person. This sum
up to but not exceeding seven thousand five
hundred dollars shall be paid from the fund to any university or
college in this state or to any trade or vocational school or other
entity in this state approved by the board, to
completely offset
the expenses of tuition, room and board, books, fees or other costs
incurred in a course of study at any of those institutions so long
as the recipient makes application to the board on an approved form
and under rules as provided by the board and maintains scholastic
eligibility as defined by the institution or the board. The board
may by appropriate rules define age requirements, physical and
mental requirements, scholastic eligibility, disbursement methods,
institutional qualifications and other requirements as necessary
and not inconsistent with this section.
(d) A surviving spouse or dependent of an employee meeting the
requirements of this section is entitled to receive beneficiary
payments on the first day following the date the deceased employee
is removed from payroll by the agency. A surviving spouse or
dependent of a member who is not currently an employee meeting the
requirements of this section is entitled to receive beneficiary
payments on the first day following the date of the deceased
member's death. A surviving spouse or dependent of a retirant
meeting the requirements of this section is entitled to receive
beneficiary payments on the first day of the month following the
date of the deceased retirant's death. Upon receipt of properly
executed forms from the agency and the surviving spouse or
dependent, the board shall process the surviving spouse or
dependent benefit as soon as administratively feasible.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the term "salary" does
not include any compensation paid for overtime service.
ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§15-2A-12. Awards and benefits to dependents of member - When
member dies in performance of duty, etc.; dependent
child scholarship and amount.
The surviving spouse, the dependent child or children or
dependent parent or parents of any member who has lost or shall
lose his or her life by reason of injury, illness or disease
resulting from an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the service required of members while the member was
engaged in the performance of his or her duties as a member of the
department, or the survivor of a member who dies from any cause
after having been retired pursuant to the provisions of section
nine of this article, is entitled to receive and shall be paid from
the fund benefits as follows: To the surviving spouse annually, in
equal monthly installments during his or her lifetime, one or the
other of two amounts, which shall become immediately available and
which shall be the greater of:
(1) An amount equal to nine tenths of the base salary received
in the preceding twelve-month employment period by the deceased
member:
Provided, That if the member had not been employed with
the department for twelve months prior to his or her death, the
amount of monthly salary shall be annualized for the purpose of
determining the benefit; or
(2) The sum of ten thousand dollars.
In addition thereto, the surviving spouse is entitled to
receive and there shall be paid to the person one hundred fifty
dollars monthly for each dependent child or children. If the
surviving spouse dies or if there is no surviving spouse, there
shall be paid monthly to each dependent child or children from the
fund a sum equal to one third of the surviving spouse's
entitlement. If there is no surviving spouse and no dependent
child or children, there shall be paid annually in equal monthly installments from the fund to the dependent parents of the deceased
member during their joint lifetimes a sum equal to the amount which
a surviving spouse, without children, would have received:
Provided, That when there is but one dependent parent surviving,
that parent is entitled to receive during his or her lifetime one
half the amount which both parents, if living, would have been
entitled to receive.
Any person qualifying as a surviving dependent child under
this section, in addition to any other benefits due under this or
other sections of this article, is entitled to receive a
scholarship to be applied to the career development education of
that person. This sum
up to but not exceeding seven thousand five
hundred dollars, shall be paid from the fund to any university or
college in this state or to any trade or vocational school or other
entity in this state approved by the board, to
completely offset
the expenses of tuition, room and board, books, fees or other costs
incurred in a course of study at any of these institutions so long
as the recipient makes application to the board on an approved form
and under rules provided by the board, and maintains scholastic
eligibility as defined by the institution or the board. The board
may by appropriate rules define age requirements, physical and
mental requirements, scholastic eligibility, disbursement methods,
institutional qualifications and other requirements as necessary
and not inconsistent with this section.
Awards and benefits for a surviving spouse or dependents of a
member received under any section or any of the provisions of this
retirement system are in lieu of receipt of any benefits for these
persons under the provisions of any other state retirement system.
Receipt of benefits under any other state retirement system is in
lieu of any right to receive any benefits under this retirement
system, so that only a single receipt of state retirement benefits
occurs.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the levels of
benefits provided by operation of this section from the effective
date of the enactment of this section during the regular session of
the Legislature, two thousand five, be the same levels of benefits
as provided by this section as amended and reenacted during the
fourth extraordinary session of the Legislature, two thousand five.
Accordingly, the effective date of the operation of this section as
amended and reenacted during the fourth extraordinary session of
the Legislature, two thousand five, is expressly made retrospective
to the ninth day of April, two thousand five.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the cap on
scholarship funds for surviving dependent children of certain
deceased members of the West Virginia State Police.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.