SB 4005 Text

Senate Bill No. 4005
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Caruth,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced November 17, 2009; referred to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §5-16D-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the mandatory employer contribution to the West Virginia Retirement Health Benefits Trust Fund for fiscal year 2010; and requiring each employer to be billed in fiscal year 2010 for an amount equal to the minimum annual employer payment only.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-16D-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16D. WEST VIRGINIA RETIREMENT HEALTH BENEFITS TRUST FUND.

§5-16D-6. Mandatory employer contributions.

(a) The board shall annually set the total annual required contribution sufficient to maintain the fund in an actuarially sound manner in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
(b) The board shall annually allocate to the respective employers the employer's portion of the annual required contribution, which allocated amount is the ôemployer annual required contributionö.
(c) The board may apportion the annual required contribution into various components. These components may include the amortized unfunded actuarial accrued liability, the total normal cost, the employer annual required contribution and the lesser included minimum annual employer payment. In the board's annual apportionment of the annual required contribution, any amounts of the minimum annual employer payment apportioned to reduce the amortized unfunded actuarial accrued liability shall not be treated as premium by the board in the finance plan but, rather, shall be treated as contributions to prefund other post-employment benefits.
(d) Employers shall make annual contributions to the fund in, at least, the amount of the minimum annual employer payment rates established by the board.
(e) The Public Employees Insurance Agency shall bill each employer for the employer annual required contribution and the included minimum annual employer payment. However, for fiscal year 2010, the Public Employees Insurance Agency shall bill each employer for an amount equal to the minimum annual employer payment only. The Public Employees Insurance Agency shall annually collect the minimum annual employer payment. The Public Employees Insurance Agency shall, in addition to the minimum annual employer payment, collect any amounts the employer elects to pay toward the employer annual required contribution. Any employer annual required contribution amount not satisfied by the respective employer shall remain the liability of that employer until fully paid. The amendments to this section enacted by the Legislature in the Fourth Extraordinary Session of 2009 may not be construed to shift any liability for the employer annual required contribution away from the employer.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide options for billing the employer annual required contribution to the West Virginia Retiree Health Benefit Trust Fund. The bill requires the Public Employees Insurance Agency to bill for only the minimum annual employer payment in fiscal year 2010. For fiscal year 2010 this will alleviate certain OPEB deficits accrued by county school boards and other local entities.

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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