WEST virginia legislature

2023 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 3241

By Delegates Storch, Marple, E. Pritt, Kump, C. Pritt, and Hornbuckle
[By Request of the Consolidated Public Retirement board]

[Introduced February 03, 2023; Referred to the Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance]

A BILL to amend and reenact §5-10D-13 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §5-10D-14, all relating to the Consolidated Public Retirement Board; setting the rate of interest on delinquent retirement contribution submissions; and prohibiting employer unilateral termination without legislative action.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 10d.  consolidated public retirement board.

§5-10D-13.  Withholding state and county money to satisfy delinquencies.

(a) If any employer participating in a retirement plan administered by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board pursuant to §5-10D-1 et seq. of this code fails to make any payment due to the retirement system for a period of 60 days after the payment is due, the participating employer is delinquent, and the delinquency shall be certified by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board to the State Auditor, the county commission of the county in which the participating employer is located, and the sheriff of the county in which the participating employer is located. If any participating employer becomes delinquent as provided in this section, the State Auditor, county commission, or sheriff is authorized and directed to withhold any money due the participating employer by the state or county until the delinquency, together with regular interest thereon, is satisfied. The rate of interest applicable to the delinquency shall be the actuarial interest rate assumption as approved by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board for completing the actuarial valuation for the plan year immediately preceding the first day of the plan year in which the delinquency payment is made, compounded daily, and the minimum interest charge is $50. The money withheld by the State Auditor, county commission, or sheriff shall be paid to the applicable retirement system on behalf of the participating employer.

(b) The Consolidated Public Retirement Board shall provide notice to the participating employer 30 days prior to certifying delinquency under this section.

§5-10D-14.   Employer unilateral termination of participation prohibited.

Once an employer has begun participating, whether by election or by operation of law, in any public retirement system administered pursuant to this article, it may not terminate its participation without affirmative legislative action.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make the delinquency interest rate on delinquent retirement contributions consistent for all plans administered by the CPRB and to specify that employers participating in a retirement plan administered by CPRB may not terminate participation in the retirement system without legislative action.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.