H. B. 4387
(By Delegates Swartzmiller, DeLong,
Stalnaker,
Ennis and M. Poling)
[Introduced February 4, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-7A-23 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the teachers retirement system
generally; and providing that certain beneficiaries receive an
annuity when an eligible spouse has not redeemed the
accumulated contributions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-7A-23 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-23. Withdrawal and death benefits.
Benefits upon withdrawal from service prior to retirement
under the provisions of this article shall be as follows:
(a) A contributor who withdraws from service for any cause
other than death or retirement shall, upon application, be paid his
or her accumulated contributions plus refund interest up to the end
of the fiscal year preceding the year in which application is made, but in no event shall interest be paid beyond the end of five years
following the year in which the last contribution was made:
Provided, That such contributor, at the time of application, is
then no longer under contract, verbal or otherwise, to serve as a
teacher; or
(b) If
such the contributor has completed twenty years of
total service, he or she may elect to receive at retirement age an
annuity which shall be computed as provided in this article:
Provided, That if such contributor has completed at least five, but
fewer than twenty years of total service in this state, he or she
may elect to receive at age sixty-two an annuity which shall be
computed as provided in this article. The contributor must notify
the retirement board in writing concerning such election. If such
contributor has completed fewer than five years of service in this
state, he or she shall be subject to the provisions as outlined in
subsection (a) above.
Benefits upon the death of a contributor prior to retirement
under the provisions of this article shall be paid as follows:
(1) If the
contributor was at least fifty years old, and if
his or her contributor's total service as a teacher was at least
twenty-five years at the time of his or her death, then the
surviving spouse of the deceased, provided the spouse is designated
as the sole refund beneficiary, is eligible for an annuity computed
as though the deceased were actually a retired teacher at the time
of death, and had selected a survivorship option which pays the
spouse the same monthly amount which would have been received by the deceased:
Provided, That the provisions of this section are
retroactive to all members who died on or after the first day of
July, two thousand two and whose eligible spouse has not redeemed
the accumulated contributions as provided in subdivision two of
this subsection; or
(2) If the facts do not permit payment under the preceding
paragraph (1), then the following sum shall be paid to the refund
beneficiary of the contributor: The contributor's accumulated
contributions with refund interest up to the year of his or her
death plus the amount of his or her accumulated contributions. The
latter sum shall emanate from the employer's accumulation fund.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that certain
beneficiaries receive an annuity when an eligible spouse has not
redeemed the accumulated contributions and making the provision
retroactive to July 1, 2002.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.