Senate Bill No. 361
(By Senators Miller, Jackson, Scott and Yoder)
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[Introduced February 12, 1996;
referred to the Committee on Government Organization;
and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to repeal section four, article ten-d, chapter five of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended; and to further amend said chapter by adding
thereto a new article, designated article four-a, all
relating to creating an office of actuarial services to
provide actuarial services to the various agencies of the
state; powers and duties; payment for actuarial services and
deposit in special account; director of office designated
state actuary; and additional duties with respect to state
retirement legislation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article ten-d, chapter five of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be repealed; that said chapter five be further amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article four-a, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 4A. Office of actuarial services.
§5-4A-1. Office created within the office of the state auditor;
powers and duties; payment for services; special
account.
(a) There is hereby created within the office of the state
auditor, an office of actuarial services. The office of
actuarial services shall provide actuarial services, whenever
required to do so, to the public employees insurance agency, the
bureau of medical services of the department of health and human
resources, the bureau of employment programs, the consolidated
public retirement board, the board of risk and insurance
management, and the office of the insurance commissioner and may
provide actuarial services to such other agencies and
instrumentalities of the state as may request such services in
writing. Except as specifically permitted in this article, it is
unlawful from and after the time this section becomes effective
for any public officer or administrator of any executive agency,
or for any of the agencies above mentioned, to expend any public
funds of the state of West Virginia for the purpose of paying any
person, firm, or corporation for the performance of any actuarial
services:
Provided, That nothing contained in this section impairs or affects any existing valid contracts of employment for
the performance of actuarial services heretofore made.
(b)
The office of actuarial services may collect, and the various
agencies of the state receiving actuarial services shall pay, the
costs of providing the service, to include the professional
actuary's actual expenses in providing the service and time
actually expended in the performance of duties for the agency.
Payments received shall be paid into a special account in the
state treasury to be expended for purposes of the office:
Provided, That for and after the fiscal year ending the thirtieth
day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, all
expenditures shall be made in accordance with appropriation by
the Legislature. Amounts collected which are found from time to
time to exceed the funds needed for the purposes of this article
may be transferred to other accounts or funds and redesignated
for other purposes by appropriation of the Legislature.
§5-4A-2. Director designated state actuary; staff; duties;
consent to outside actuarial contracts.
(a) The chief executive officer and director of the office
of actuarial services shall be appointed by the state auditor.
The director shall be a professional actuary, and shall also be
known as the state actuary. The state actuary, and all professional actuaries employed in the office of actuarial
services shall be classified-exempt employees of the state
pursuant to section four, article six, chapter twenty-nine of
this code. The state actuary shall have the power and authority
to employ such professional and support staff as may be necessary
to provide professional actuarial services to the various
agencies of the state.
The office of actuarial services shall operate to meet the
needs of the various agencies of the state requiring actuarial
services, while assuring that the independent professional
judgment of the professional actuary providing that service is
not compromised.
(b)
It is also the duty of the state actuary to render to the
president of the Senate and/or the speaker of the House of
Delegates a written opinion or analysis upon any issues submitted
to the state actuary by them or either of them whenever requested
in writing so to do.
(c) In the event the state actuary is of the opinion that
the office of actuarial services for a certain time period does
not have professional actuarial staff in specific areas of
expertise to meet the actuarial needs of an agency, the state
actuary shall so advise the chief administrator of the agency by letter. The letter shall be sufficient, for that time period, to
permit the agency to enter into outside contracts and to expend
public funds to pay for the performance of actuarial services,
notwithstanding the provisions of section one of this article.
In the event the chief administrator an agency is of the opinion
the office of actuarial services will not or has not adequately
met the actuarial needs of the agency, or that a transition
period is desirable during which actuarial duties are transferred
over time from outside actuaries to the office of actuarial
services, the chief administrator may request a letter from the
state actuary permitting the agency for a certain time period to
enter into outside contracts and expend public funds for
actuarial services, and a letter of consent may not be
unreasonably withheld. In the event the state actuary and the
chief administrator of an agency disagree on the issue, the state
auditor shall have the authority to decide the question, and the
state auditor may send or direct the state actuary to send a
letter of consent to the chief administrator of the agency. At
the time any such dispute is referred to the state auditor, the
state actuary shall, in writing, notify the joint committee on
government and finance of the disagreement on the issue. Payment
for outside contracts for actuarial services by any spending unit
will not be honored unless a letter of consent from the state actuary or the auditor is first obtained.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of section one of this
article, a public officer or administrator of an executive
agency, or any of the agencies enumerated in section one of this
article, may enter into outside contracts and expend public funds
for the performance of actuarial services, for the limited
purpose of obtaining an independent review and second opinion as
to an opinion or analysis by the office of actuarial services.
The office of actuarial services shall cooperate with any
independent professional actuary conducting such review, and
shall provide to the independent professional actuary any
materials or documents reasonably requested and relied upon by
the office of actuarial services in arriving at its opinion or
analysis upon an issue.
§5-4A-3. Additional duties with respect to state retirement
legislation.
(a) The office of actuarial services shall perform the
following duties with respect to state retirement legislation:
(1) Analyze each item of state retirement legislation as to
cost, actuarial soundness and adherence to sound pension policy;
(2) Prepare, in accordance with such legislative priorities
as may be established by the president of the Senate, the speaker
of the House of Delegates, or the chairs of the joint standing committee of the Legislature having general jurisdiction over
issues relating to pensions and retirement, an actuarial note to
be attached to each item of state retirement legislation, to be
prepared, when feasible, prior to its formal introduction. Such
actuarial note shall briefly summarize the proposed legislation
and set forth its anticipated fiscal and actuarial impact on the
affected state retirement system or systems; and
(3) Such other analyses of legislative proposals with
respect to state pensions and retirement as may be requested by
the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of
Delegates, or the chairs of the joint standing committee of the
Legislature having general jurisdiction over issues relating to
pensions and retirement.
(b) Effective the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-six, the state retirement actuary employed under
previous enactment of section four, article ten-d of this chapter
and having duties with respect to state retirement legislation by
virtue of said section, shall be transferred to the office of
actuarial services created in this article, to perform such
actuarial services as may be required by the consolidated public
retirement board, and to assume duties related to state
retirement legislation pursuant to this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create an office of
actuarial services to provide independent professional services
to the various agencies of the state.
Article four-a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
This bill is recommended for passage during the 1996 regular
Legislative session by Subcommittee C of the Joint Standing
Committee on Government Organization.