Senate Bill No. 355
(By Senator Unger, Foster and Kessler)
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[Introduced January 29, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact
§15-2A-6,
§15-2A-9, §15-2A-10
and
§15-2A-12 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all
relating to the West Virginia State Police Retirement System;
lowering the normal retirement age; and eliminating any
reduction in the benefit of a State Police officer who is
disabled on the job.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-2A-6, §15-2A-9, §15-2A-10 and §15-2A-12 of the Code
of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§15-2A-6. Retirement; commencement of benefits.
(a) A member may retire with full benefits upon attaining the
age of
fifty-five fifty and completing
twenty twenty-five or more
years of service
or attaining the age of fifty-two and completing twenty years or more of service, by lodging with the Consolidated
Public Retirement Board his or her voluntary petition in writing
for retirement. A member who is less than age
fifty-five fifty may
retire upon completing
twenty twenty-five years or more of service:
Provided, That he or she will receive a reduced benefit that is of
equal actuarial value to the benefit the member would have received
if the member deferred commencement of his or her accrued
retirement benefit to the age of fifty-five.
(b) When the Retirement Board retires a member with full
benefits under the provisions of this section, the board, by order
in writing, shall make a determination that the member is entitled
to receive an annuity equal to two and three-fourths percent of his
or her final average salary multiplied by the number of years, and
fraction of a year, of his or her service in the department at the
time of retirement. The member's annuity shall begin the first day
of the calendar month following the month in which the member's
application for the annuity is filed with the board on or after his
or her attaining age and service requirements, and termination of
employment.
(c) In no event may the provisions of section thirteen,
article sixteen, chapter five be applied in determining eligibility
to retire with either a deferred or immediate commencement of
benefit.
§15-2A-9. Awards and benefits for disability. -- Incurred in performance of duty.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a member of
the department who has not yet entered retirement status on the
basis of age and service and who becomes partially disabled by
injury, illness or disease resulting from any occupational risk or
hazard inherent in or peculiar to the services required of members
of the department and incurred pursuant to or while the member was
engaged in the performance of his or her duties as a member of the
department shall, if, in the opinion of the retirement board, he or
she is, by reason of such cause, unable to perform adequately the
duties required of him or her as a member of the department, but is
able to engage in other gainful employment in a field other than
law enforcement, be retired from active service by the board. The
member thereafter is entitled to receive annually and there shall
be paid to the member from the fund in equal monthly installments
during the lifetime of the member,
or until the member attains the
age of fifty-five or until the disability sooner terminates, one or
the other of two amounts, whichever is greater:
(1) An amount equal to six tenths of the base salary received
in the preceding twelve-month employment period:
Provided, That if
the member had not been employed with the department for twelve
months prior to the disability, the amount of monthly salary shall
be annualized for the purpose of determining the benefit; or
(2) The sum of six thousand dollars.
Upon attaining age
fifty-five fifty, the member shall receive
the benefit provided in section six of this article
if it is a
higher benefit than the benefit the member is receiving under the
disability provisions set out above,
as it would apply to his or
her final average salary based on earnings from the department
through the day immediately preceding his or her disability. The
recalculation of benefit upon a member attaining age fifty-five
fifty shall be considered to be a retirement under the provisions
of section six of this article, for purposes of determining the
amount of annual annuity adjustment and for all other purposes of
this article. A benefit received by a member based on a disability
as set out above may not be reduced during the lifetime of the
member: Provided, That a member who is partially disabled under
this article may not, while in receipt of benefits for partial
disability, be employed as a law-enforcement officer: Provided
however, That a member retired on a partial disability under this
article may serve as an elected sheriff or appointed chief of
police in the state without a loss of disability retirement
benefits so long as such elected or appointed position is shown to
the satisfaction of the board, to require the performance of
administrative duties and functions only, as opposed to the full
range of duties of a law-enforcement officer.
(b) Any member who has not yet entered retirement status on
the basis of age and service and who becomes physically or mentally disabled by injury, illness or disease on a probable permanent
basis resulting from any occupational risk or hazard inherent in or
peculiar to the services required of members of the department and
incurred pursuant to or while the member was or is engaged in the
performance of his or her duties as a member of the department to
the extent that the member is incapacitated ever to engage in any
gainful employment, the member is entitled to receive annually, and
there shall be paid to the member from the fund in equal monthly
installments during the lifetime of the member or until the
disability sooner terminates, an amount equal to the amount of the
base salary received by the member in the preceding twelve-month
employment period.
(c) The superintendent of the department may expend moneys
from funds appropriated for the department in payment of medical,
surgical, laboratory, X ray, hospital, ambulance and dental
expenses and fees, and reasonable costs and expenses incurred in
the purchase of artificial limbs and other approved appliances
which may be reasonably necessary for any member of the department
who is temporarily, permanently or totally disabled by injury,
illness or disease resulting from any occupational risk or hazard
inherent in or peculiar to the service required of members of the
department and incurred pursuant to or while the member was or
shall be engaged in the performance of duties as a member of the
department. Whenever the superintendent determines that any disabled member is ineligible to receive any of the aforesaid
benefits at public expense, the superintendent shall, at the
request of the disabled member, refer the matter to the board for
hearing and final decision. In no case will the compensation
rendered to health care providers for medical and hospital services
exceed the then current rate schedule in use by the Bureau of
Employment Programs, Workers' Compensation Division.
§15-2A-10. Same -- Due to other causes.
(a) If any member while in active service of the state Police
department becomes partially or totally disabled on a probable
permanent basis to the extent that the member cannot adequately
perform the duties required of a member of the department from any
cause other than those set forth in the preceding section and not
due to vicious habits, intemperance or willful misconduct on his or
her part, the member shall be retired by the board. There shall be
paid annually to the member from the fund in equal monthly
installments, commencing on the date the member is retired and
continuing during the lifetime of the member; or until the member
attains the age of fifty-five fifty-two; while in status of
retirement an amount equal to one-half the base salary received by
the member in the preceding twelve-month period: Provided, That if
the member had not been employed with the department for twelve
months prior to the disability, the amount of monthly salary shall
be annualized for the purpose of determining the benefit.
(b) Upon attaining age fifty-five fifty, the member shall
receive the benefit provided in section six of this article as it
would apply to his or her final average salary based on earnings
from the department through the day immediately preceding his or
her disability. The recalculation of benefit upon a member
attaining age fifty-five fifty shall be considered to be a
retirement under the provisions of section six of this article, for
purposes of determining the amount of annual annuity adjustment and
for all other purposes of this article.
§15-2A-12. Awards and benefits to dependents of member - when
member dies in performance of duty, etc.; dependent
child scholarship and amount.
The surviving spouse, the dependent child or children or
dependent parent or parents of any member who has lost or shall
lose his or her life by reason of injury, illness or disease
resulting from an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or
peculiar to the service required of members while the member was
engaged in the performance of his or her duties as a member of the
department, or the survivor of a member who dies from any cause
after having been retired pursuant to the provisions of section
nine of this article, is entitled to receive and shall be paid from
the fund benefits as follows: To the surviving spouse annually, in
equal monthly installments during his or her lifetime, one or the
other of two amounts, which shall become immediately available and which shall be the greater of:
(1) An amount equal to nine tenths of the base salary received
in the preceding twelve-month employment period by the deceased
member: Provided, That if the member had not been employed with
the department for twelve months prior to his or her death, the
amount of monthly salary shall be annualized for the purpose of
determining the benefit; or
(2) The sum of ten thousand dollars.
In addition thereto, the surviving spouse is entitled to
receive and there shall be paid to the person one hundred fifty
dollars monthly for each dependent child or children. If the
surviving spouse dies or if there is no surviving spouse, there
shall be paid monthly to each dependent child or children from the
fund a sum equal to one third of the surviving spouse's
entitlement. If there is no surviving spouse and no dependent
child or children, there shall be paid annually in equal monthly
installments from the fund to the dependent parents of the deceased
member during their joint lifetimes a sum equal to the amount which
a surviving spouse, without children, would have received:
Provided, That when there is but one dependent parent surviving,
that parent is entitled to receive during his or her lifetime
one-half the amount which both parents, if living, would have been
entitled to receive.
Any person qualifying as a surviving dependent child under this section, in addition to any other benefits due under this or
other sections of this article, is entitled to receive a
scholarship to be applied to the career development education of
that person. This sum, up to but not exceeding seven thousand five
hundred forty-five thousand dollars, shall be paid from the fund
to any university or college in this state or to any trade or
vocational school or other entity in this state approved by the
board, to offset the expenses of tuition, room and board, books,
fees or other costs incurred in a course of study at any of these
institutions so long as the recipient makes application to the
board on an approved form and under rules provided by the board,
and maintains scholastic eligibility as defined by the institution
or the board. The board may by appropriate rules define age
requirements, physical and mental requirements, scholastic
eligibility, disbursement methods, institutional qualifications and
other requirements as necessary and not inconsistent with this
section.
Awards and benefits for a surviving spouse or dependents of a
member received under any section or any of the provisions of this
retirement system are in lieu of receipt of any benefits for these
persons under the provisions of any other state retirement system.
Receipt of benefits under any other state retirement system is in
lieu of any right to receive any benefits under this retirement
system, so that only a single receipt of state retirement benefits occurs.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the levels of
benefits provided by operation of this section from the effective
date of the enactment of this section during the regular session of
the Legislature, two thousand five, be the same levels of benefits
as provided by this section as amended and reenacted during the
fourth extraordinary session of the Legislature, two thousand five.
Accordingly, the effective date of the operation of this section as
amended and reenacted during the fourth extraordinary session of
the Legislature, two thousand five, is expressly made retrospective
to the ninth day of April, two thousand five.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to lower the normal
retirement age for State Police officers and eliminate any
reduction in the benefit of a State Police officer who is disabled
on the job.
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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