Senate Bill No. 26
(By Senators Bowman, Plymale, Jenkins and Hunter)
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[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §5-10-22 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to public employees retirement
generally; and increasing the multiplier from two percent to
two and one-quarter percent.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-10-22 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.
§5-10-22. Retirement annuity.
(a) Upon a member's retirement, as provided in this article,
he or she shall receive a straight life annuity equal to one and
five-tenths percent of his or her final average salary multiplied
by the number of years, and fraction of a year, of his or her
credited service in force at the time of his or her retirement:
Provided, That the final average salary used in this calculation does not include any lump sum payment for unused, accrued leave of
any kind or character. The credited service used for this
calculation may not include any period of limited credited service:
Provided, however, That after
the first day of March,
one one
thousand nine hundred seventy, all members retired and all members
retiring shall receive a straight life annuity equal to two percent
of his or her final average salary multiplied by the number of
years, and fraction of a year, of his or her credited service,
exclusive of limited credited service in force at the time of his
or her retirement.
After the first day of July, two thousand
eight, all members retired and retiring shall receive a straight
life annuity equal to two and one-quarter percent of his or her
final average salary multiplied by the number of years, and
fraction of a year, of his or her credited service in force at the
time of his or her retirement.
In either any event, upon his or
her retirement he or she has the right to elect an option provided
in section twenty-four of this article. All annuity payments shall
commence effective the first day of the month following the month
in which a member retires or a member dies leaving a beneficiary
entitled to benefits and shall continue to the end of the month in
which the retirant or beneficiary dies, and the annuity payments
may not be prorated for any portion of a month in which a member
retires or retirant or beneficiary dies. Any member receiving an
annuity based in part upon limited credited service is not eligible for the supplements provided in sections twenty-two-a through
twenty-two-d, inclusive, of this article.
(b) The annuity of any member of the Legislature who
participates in the retirement system as a member of the
Legislature and who retires under this article or of any former
member of the Legislature who has retired under this article
(including any former member of the Legislature who has retired
under this article and whose annuity was readjusted as of the first
day of March, one thousand nine hundred seventy, under the former
provisions of this section) shall be increased from time to time
during the period of his or her retirement when and if the
legislative compensation paid under section two, article two-a,
chapter four of this code, to a member of the Legislature shall be
increased to the point where a higher annuity would be payable to
the retirant if he or she were retiring as of the effective date of
the latest increase in legislative compensation, but on the basis
of his or her years of credited service to the date of his or her
actual retirement.
NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to increase the multiplier
for a retirement annuity in the public employees retirement system
from two to two and one-quarter percent. The bill also deletes
language found to be void by the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.