Senate Bill No. 537
(By Senators Hunter, Dempsey, Bailey, Unger, Edgell, Prezioso,
Fanning, Foster, Jenkins, Minard, McCabe, Bowman, White, Yoder
and Sharpe)
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[Introduced February 8, 2006; referred to the Committee
on Military; then to the Committee on Pensions; and then to the
Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §5-10-15 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to providing that any
service in the United States armed forces up to five years
is credited service toward retirement for members of the
Public Employees Retirement System.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-10-15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
§5-10-15. Military service credit; qualified military service.
(a)(1)
The Legislature recognizes the men and women of this
state who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States
during times of war, conflict and danger. It is the intent of
this section to confer military service credit upon persons who are eligible at any time for Public Employees Retirement benefits
for any time served in active duty in the Armed Forces of the
United States.
when the duty was during any period of compulsory
military service or during a period of armed conflict, as defined
in this section
(2) In addition to any benefit provided by federal law, any
member of the retirement system who has previously served in or
enters the active service of the Armed Forces of the United
States during any period of
compulsory military service
or during
a period of armed conflict shall receive credited service for the
time spent in the Armed Forces of the United States, not to
exceed five years if the member:
(A) Has been honorably discharged from the Armed Forces; and
(B) Substantiates by appropriate documentation or evidence
his or her active military service and entry into military
service.
during any period of compulsory military service or
during periods of armed conflict
(3) Any member of the retirement system who enters the
active service of the Armed Forces of the United States
during
any period of compulsory military service or during a period of
armed conflict shall receive the credit provided by this section
regardless of whether he or she was a public employee at the time
of entering the military service.
(4) If a member of the Public Employees Retirement System
enters the active service of the United States
and serves during
any period of compulsory military service or during any period of armed conflict, during the period of
the armed service and until
the member's return to the employ of a participating public
employer, the member's contributions to the retirement system is
suspended and any credit balance remaining in the member's
deposit fund shall be accumulated at regular interest:
Provided,
That notwithstanding any provision in this article to the
contrary, if an employee of a participating political subdivision
serving in the military service
during any period of compulsory
military service or armed conflict has accumulated credited
service prior to the last entry into military service, in an
amount that, added to the time in active military service while
an employee equals nine or more years, and the member is unable
to resume employment with a participating employer upon
completion of duty due to death during or as a result of active
service, all time spent in active military service, up to and
including a total of five years, is considered to be credited
service and death benefits are vested in the member.
Provided,
however, That the active service during the time the member is an
employee must be as a result of an order or call to duty, and not
as a result of volunteering for assignment or volunteering to
extend the time in service beyond the time required by order or
call
(5) No member may receive duplicate credit for service.
for
a period of compulsory military service which falls under a
period of armed conflict
(6) In any case of doubt as to the period of service to be credited a member, under the provisions of this section, the
board of trustees have final power to determine the period.
(7) The Board may consider a petition by any member whose
tour of duty, in a territory that would reasonably be considered
hostile and dangerous, was extended beyond the period in which an
armed conflict was officially recognized, if that tour of duty
commenced during a period of armed conflict, and the member was
assigned to duty stations within the hostile territory throughout
the period for which service credit is being sought. The Board
has the authority to evaluate the facts and circumstances
peculiar to the petition, and rule on whether granting service
credit for the extended tour of duty is consistent with the
objectives of this article. In that determination, the Board may
grant full credit for the period under petition subject to the
limitations otherwise applicable, or to grant credit for any part
of the period as the board considers appropriate, or to deny
credit altogether.
(8) (7) The board of trustees may propose legislative rules
for promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article
three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to administer the
provisions of this section.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply:
(1) "Period of armed conflict" means the Spanish-American
War, the Mexican border period, World War I, World War II, the
Korean conflict, the Vietnam era, the Persian Gulf War and any other period of armed conflict by the United States, including,
but not limited to, those periods sanctioned by a declaration of
war by the United States Congress or by executive or other order
of the President.
(2) "Spanish-American War" means the period beginning on the
twenty-first day of April, one thousand eight hundred ninety-
eight, and ending on the fourth day of July, one thousand nine
hundred two, and includes the Philippine Insurrection, the Boxer
Rebellion, and in the case of a veteran who served with the
United States military forces engaged in hostilities in the Moro
Province, means the period beginning on the twenty-first day of
April, one thousand eight hundred ninety-eight, and ending on the
fifteenth day of July, one thousand nine hundred three.
(3) "The Mexican border period" means the period beginning
on the ninth day of May, one thousand nine hundred sixteen, and
ending on the fifth day of April, one thousand nine hundred
seventeen, in the case of a veteran who during the period served
in Mexico, on its borders or in the waters adjacent to it.
(4) "World War I" means the period beginning on the sixth
day of April, one thousand nine hundred seventeen, and ending on
the eleventh day of November, one thousand nine hundred eighteen,
and in the case of a veteran who served with the United States
military forces in Russia, means the period beginning on the
sixth day of April, one thousand nine hundred seventeen, and
ending on the first day of April, one thousand nine hundred
twenty.
(5) "World War II" means the period beginning on the seventh
day of December, one thousand nine hundred forty-one, and ending
on the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred
forty-six.
(6) "Korean conflict" means the period beginning on the
twenty-seventh day of June, one thousand nine hundred fifty, and
ending on the thirty-first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred fifty-five.
(7) "The Vietnam era" means the period beginning on the
twenty-eighth day of February, one thousand nine hundred sixty-
one, and ending on the seventh day of May, one thousand nine
hundred seventy-five, in the case of a veteran who served in the
Republic of Vietnam during that period; and the fifth day of
August, one thousand nine hundred sixty-four, and ending on the
seventh day of May, one thousand nine hundred seventy-five, in
all other cases.
(8) "Persian Gulf War" means the period beginning on the
second day of August, one thousand nine hundred ninety, and
ending on the eleventh day of April, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-one.
(c) (b) Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this
section, contributions, benefits and service credit with respect
to qualified military service shall be provided in accordance
with Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code. For purposes
of this section, "qualified military service" has the same
meaning as in Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code. No military service credit may be used in more than one retirement
system administered by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board
and once used in any system, may not be used again in any other
system. The board is authorized to determine all questions and
make all decisions relating to this section and, pursuant to the
authority granted to the board in section one, article ten-d of
this chapter, may promulgate rules relating to contributions,
benefits and service credit to comply with Section 414(u) of the
Internal Revenue Code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that any
service in the United States Armed Forces up to five years is
credited service toward retirement for members of the Public
Employees Retirement System.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.