A BILL to amend and reenact sections one, two and seven, article ten-d, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to the consolidated public retirement board and clarifying that assets of the public retirement systems administered by the consolidated public retirement board shall be held in trust; and clarifying the applicability of the compensation limitations under section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code to the contributions and benefits under the qualified retirement plan systems administered by the consolidated public retirement board and authorizing the board to adopt policies and procedures to comply with these compensation limitations and to take other actions to comply with these limitations as required by the Internal Revenue Service; and relating to providing investment management consulting services for the teachers' defined contribution system; and relating to the name of the title of the retirement systems' chief administrative officer.

That sections one, two and seven, article ten-d, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, as amended, be amended and restated, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10D. CONSOLIDATED PUBLIC RETIREMENT BOARD. §5-10D-1.

Consolidated public retirement board created; transition; members; vacancies; investment of plan funds.

(a) There is hereby continued a consolidated public retirement board to administer all public retirement plans in this state. It shall administer the public employees retirement system established in article ten of this chapter; the teachers retirement system established in article seven-a, chapter eighteen of this code; the teachers' defined contribution retirement system created by article seven-b, chapter eighteen of this code; the death, disability and retirement fund of the department of public safety created by article two, chapter fifteen of this code; the death, disability and retirement fund for deputy sheriffs created by article fourteen-d, chapter seven of this code; and the judges' retirement system created under article nine, chapter fifty-one of this code. (b) The consolidated public retirement board shall begin administration of the death, disability and retirement fund for deputy sheriffs established in article fourteen-d, chapter seven of this code on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight.
(c) The membership of the consolidated public retirement board consists of:
(1) The governor or his or her designee;
(2) The state treasurer or his or her designee;
(3) The state auditor or his or her designee;
(4) The secretary of the department of administration or his or her designee;
(5) Four residents of the state, who are not members, retirants or beneficiaries of any of the public retirement systems, to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate; and
(6) A member, annuitant or retirant of the public employees retirement system who is or was a state employee; a member, annuitant or retirant of the public employees retirement system who is not or was not a state employee; a member, annuitant or retirant of the teachers retirement system; a member, annuitant or retirant of the department of public safety death, disability and retirement fund; a member, annuitant or retirant of the deputy sheriff's death, disability and retirement fund; and a member, annuitant or retirant of the teachers' defined contribution retirement system, all to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(d) The appointed members of the board shall serve five-year terms. The governor shall appoint the member representing the deputy sheriff's death, disability and retirement fund by the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight to a five-year term. A member appointed pursuant to subdivision (5) (6), subsection (c) of this section ceases to be a member of the board if he or she ceases to be a member of the represented system. If a vacancy occurs in the appointed membership, the governor, within sixty days, shall fill the vacancy by appointment for the unexpired term. No more than five appointees shall be of the same political party.
(e) The consolidated public retirement board has all the powers, duties, responsibilities and liabilities of the public employees retirement system established pursuant to article ten, of this chapter; the teachers retirement system established pursuant to article seven-a, chapter eighteen of this code; the teachers' defined contribution system established pursuant to article seven-b, chapter eighteen of this code; the death, disability and retirement fund of the department of public safety created pursuant to article two, chapter fifteen of this code; the death, disability and retirement fund for deputy sheriffs created pursuant to article fourteen-d, chapter seven of this code; and the judges' retirement system created pursuant to article nine, chapter fifty-one of this code and their appropriate governing boards. The consolidated public retirement board may propose for promulgation all rules necessary to effectuate its powers, duties and responsibilities pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code: Provided, That the board may adopt any or all of the rules, previously promulgated, of a retirement system which it administers.
(f) Effective on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, the consolidated public retirement board shall, within two business days of receipt, transfer all funds received by the consolidated public retirement board for the benefit of the retirement systems within the consolidated pension plan as defined in section three-c, article six-b, chapter forty-four of this code, including, but not limited to, all employer and employee contributions, to the West Virginia investment management board: Provided, That the employer and employee contributions of the teachers' defined contribution system, established in section three, article seven-b, chapter eighteen of this code, and voluntary deferred compensation funds invested by the West Virginia consolidated public retirement board pursuant to section five, article ten-b of this chapter, may not be transferred to the West Virginia investment management board.
(g) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the code or any legislative rule, all assets of the public retirement plans set forth in subdivision (a) of this section shall be held in trust. The consolidated public retirement board shall be a trustee for all public retirement plans, except with regard to the investment of funds: Provided, That the consolidated public retirement board shall be a trustee with regard to the investments of the teachers' defined contribution system, and the voluntary deferred compensation funds invested pursuant to section five, article ten-b of this chapter and any other assets of the public retirement plans administered by the consolidated public retirement board as set forth in subdivision (a) of this section for which no trustee has been expressly designated by the code.
(h) The board is hereby empowered and authorized to have the option of employing the West Virginia investment management board to provide investment management consulting services for the investment funds in the teachers' defined contribution system.
§5-10D-2.

Chairman and vice chairman; executive director; employees; legal advisor; actuary.

(a) The secretary of the department of administration shall call the first meeting of the consolidated public retirement board no later than the fifteenth day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one.
(b) The board shall elect from its own number a chairman and vice chairman.
(c) The board shall appoint an executive secretary director of the retirement systems. The executive secretary director shall be the chief administrative officer of all the systems and he or she shall not be a member of the board. He or she shall perform such duties as are required of him or her in this article and as the board from time to time delegates to him or her. The compensation of the executive secretary director shall be fixed by the board subject to the approval of the governor. The executive secretary director shall, with the approval of the board of trustees, employ such administrative, technical and clerical employees as are required in the proper operation of the systems.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of section two, article three of this chapter, the board shall employ and be represented by an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of West Virginia who is not a member of any of the retirement systems administered by the board.
(e) An actuary, employed by the state or the board pursuant to section four of this article, shall be the actuarial consultant to the board.
(f) Prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, the expenses of the board for the administration of the teachers' defined contribution retirement system created pursuant to article seven-b, chapter eighteen of this code shall be paid by the teachers retirement system created pursuant to article seven-a of said chapter. §5-10D-7. Compensation limitations; effective dates.
(a) Effective for plan years beginning after the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, the annual compensation of a participant taken into account in determining benefits or contributions under any of the public retirement plans administered by the board and which are qualified plans under section 401(a)(17) 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code may not exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars, as indexed in accordance with the provisions of section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code. This provision shall apply notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary in this code and notwithstanding any provisions of any legislative rule.
(b) In applying the limitations of subdivision (a) of this section, the consolidated public retirement board is authorized to (I) adopt policies or procedures that may be necessary or appropriate in applying the compensation limitations of section 401(a)(17) to participants, including without limitation, the adoption and application of any transition rules to implement the compensation limitations; and (ii) to take any actions that may at any time be required by the Internal Revenue Service regarding compliance with the requirements of section 401(a)(17), including without limitation, distributions, credits, set-asides or other adjustments.