ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 682
(By Senators Plymale, Jackson, Edgell and Sprouse)
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[Originating in the Committee on Pensions;
reported February 24, 1999.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections three, four and five, article
ten-c, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to including
the deputy sheriff retirement system in the government
employees retirement plans for purposes of deferring
contributions to the deputy sheriff retirement system under
the internal revenue code of 1986.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections three, four and five, article ten-c, chapter
five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 10C. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT PLANS.
§5-10C-3. Definitions.
The following words and phrases as used in this article,
unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context,
shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all amounts
credited to a member's individual account in the members' deposit
fund and includes both contributions deducted from the compensation
of a member and contributions of a member picked up and paid by the
member's participating public employer, plus applicable interest
thereon.
(2) "Board of trustees" means, as appropriate: The board of
trustees of the West Virginia public employees retirement system
created in article ten, chapter five of this code; the retirement
board of the West Virginia department of public safety death,
disability and retirement fund created in section twenty-six,
article two, chapter fifteen of this code; the retirement board of
the state teachers and board of regents retirement system created
in article seven-a, chapter eighteen of this code; the governing
board of the board of regents supplemental and additional
retirement plans created in section four-a, article twenty-three,
chapter eighteen of this code; the retirement board of the judges'
retirement system created in article nine, chapter fifty-one of
this code; or the board of trustees of the firemen's and
policemen's pension and relief funds created in article twenty-two, chapter eight of this code.
(3) "Employee" means any person, whether appointed, elected,
or under contract, providing services for a public employer, for
which compensation is paid and who is a member of the
applicable
retirement system.
(4) "Member" means any employee who is included in a
retirement system.
(5) "Member contributions" means, as appropriate: The
contributions required by section twenty-nine, article ten, chapter
five of this code, from employees who are members of the West
Virginia public employees retirement system; the contributions
required by section twenty-six, article two, chapter fifteen of
this code, from employees who are members of the West Virginia
department of public safety death, disability and retirement fund;
the contributions required by section seven, article fourteen-d,
chapter seven of this code, from employees who are members of the
deputy sheriff retirement system; the contributions required by
section fourteen, article seven-a, chapter eighteen of this code,
from employees who are members of the state teachers retirement
system; the contributions authorized by section fourteen-a, article
seven-a, chapter eighteen or by section four-a, article twenty- three, chapter eighteen, from employees who are members of the West Virginia board of regents retirement plans; the contributions
required by section four, article nine, chapter fifty-one of this
code, from employees who are members of the judges' retirement
system; or the contributions required by section sixteen, article
twenty-two, chapter eight of this code, from employees who are
members of the firemen's and policemen's pension and relief funds.
(6) "Participating public employer" means the state of West
Virginia, any board, commission, department, institution or
spending unit, and shall include any agency
with full-time
employees, created by rule of the supreme court of appeals,
having
full-time employees, which for the purpose of this article shall be
deemed considered a department of state government, and county
boards of education with respect to teachers employed by them; any
political subdivision in the state which has elected to cover its
employees, as defined in this article, under the West Virginia
public employees retirement system;
any political subdivision in
the state which has elected to cover its employees, as defined in
this article, under the deputy sheriff retirement system; and any
political subdivision in this state which is subject to the
provisions of article twenty-two, chapter eight of this code.
(7) "Political subdivision" means the state of West Virginia,
a county, city or town in the state; a school corporation or corporate unit; any separate corporation or instrumentality
established by one or more counties, cities or towns, as permitted
by law; any corporation or instrumentality supported in most part
by counties, cities or towns; any public corporation charged by law
with the performance of a governmental function and whose
jurisdiction is coextensive with one or more counties, cities or
towns, any agency or organization established by, or approved by
the department of health for the provision of community health or
mental retardation services, and which is supported in part by
state, county or municipal funds.
(8) "Retirement system" means, as appropriate: The West
Virginia public employees retirement system created in article ten,
chapter five of this code; the West Virginia department of public
safety death, disability and retirement fund created in sections
twenty-six through thirty-eight, article two, chapter fifteen of
this code;
the West Virginia deputy sheriff retirement system
created in article fourteen-d, chapter seven of this code; the
state teachers retirement system created in article seven-a,
chapter eighteen of this code; the West Virginia board of regents
retirement plans created in section fourteen-a, article seven-a,
chapter eighteen and section four-a, article twenty-three, chapter
eighteen of this code; the judges' retirement system created in article nine, chapter fifty-one of this code;
or the firemen's
or
policemen's pension and relief fund created in section sixteen,
article twenty-two, chapter eight of this code.
or the policemen's
pension and relief fund created in section sixteen, article
twenty-two, chapter eight of this code.
(9) "Teacher"
shall have has the meaning ascribed to it in
section three, article seven-a, chapter eighteen of this code.
§5-10C-4. Pick-up of members' contributions by participating
public employers.
(a) The state of West Virginia for its public employees and
county
board boards of education for its teachers shall pick-up and
pay the contributions which such employees are required by law to
make to the retirement system in which they are a member for all
compensation earned by its member employees after the thirtieth day
of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty-six. Any political
subdivision that is a participating public employer in the West
Virginia public employees retirement system shall pick-up and pay
the contributions which such employees are required by law to make
to the retirement system in which they are members for all
compensation earned by its member employees after the first day of
January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five.
Counties shall
pick-up and pay the contributions which such employees are required by law to make to the deputy sheriff retirement system in which
they are members for all compensation earned by its member
employees after the first thirtieth day of Januaryune, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-fiveeight. Any election made by a political subdivision
to pick-up and pay employee contributions prior to the first day of
January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five,
shall remain in
effect and not be remains in effect and is not altered or amended
by the amendments made to this section during the regular
legislative session, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five.
(b) When the participating public employer picks up and pays
the contributions of its member employees, the contributions shall
be treated as employer contributions in determining the tax
treatment thereof under article twenty-one, chapter eleven of this
code, and the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
and the contributions shall not be included in the gross income of
the employee in determining his or her tax treatment under
said
article, and the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
those provisions until they are distributed or made available to
the employee or his or her beneficiary. The participating public
employer shall pay these employee contributions from the same
source of funds used in paying compensation to the employee, by
effecting an equal cash reduction in the gross salary of the employee, or by an off-set against future salary increases, or by
a combination of reduction in gross salary and off-set against
future salary increases.
(c) When employee contributions are picked up and paid by the
participating public employer, they shall be treated by the board
of trustees in the same manner and to the same extent as employee
contributions made prior to the date on which employee
contributions are picked up by the participating public employer.
(d) The amount of employee contributions picked up by the
participating public employer shall be paid to the retirement
system in
such the manner and form, and in
such the frequency
as
required by the board of trustees
may require and shall be
accompanied by
such supporting data
as that the board of trustees
shall from time to time may prescribe. When paid to the retirement
system, each of
said these amounts shall be credited to the deposit
fund account of the member for whom the contribution was picked up
and paid by the participating public employer.
§5-10C-5. Savings clause.
In enacting this article, it is the intent of the Legislature
that the retirement plan created pursuant to this article and those
created pursuant to article ten, chapter five; article fourteen-d,
chapter seven; article two, chapter fifteen; article seven-a, chapter eighteen and article nine, chapter fifty-one of this code
shall qualify under section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1954, as amended, and that the member contributions picked up by
the participating public employer qualify under subsection (h),
section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended.
Should the United States Internal Revenue Service not approve of
certain sections or phraseology of certain sections of this article
as being in compliance with the statutes or rules governing the
Internal Revenue Service, the respective boards of trustees, in the
adoption of the deferred compensation plan, shall adopt such
terminology with respect to such those sections as will comply
therewith.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include the deputy
sheriff retirement system in the government employees retirement
plans for purposes of deferring contributions to the deputy sheriff
retirement system under the internal revenue code of 1986.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)
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FINANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
On page ___, section four, line ___, by striking out the word
"board" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "boards";
On page ___, section four, line ___, by striking out the word "first" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "thirtieth";
On page ___, section four, line ___, by striking out the word
"January" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "June";
And,
On page ___, section four, line ___, by striking out the word
"ninety-five" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "ninety- eight".