Bill Text: WV SB494 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Considering members of State Teachers Retirement System absent while serving as officer with statewide professional association
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-02-21 - To House Pensions and Retirement [SB494 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2018-SB494-Introduced.html
WEST virginia legislature
2018 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 494
By Senators Azinger and Ferns
[Introduced February
6, 2018; Referred
to the Committee on Pensions]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-7A-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to providing that members of the State Teachers Retirement System shall be considered absent from service as a teacher or nonteacher while serving as an officer with a statewide professional teaching association, or who have served in that capacity; and providing that retirants, who served in that capacity while members, shall be considered to have been absent from service as a teacher by reason of that service.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 7A. STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§18-7A-17. Statement and computation of teachers' service.
(a) Under rules adopted by the retirement board, each teacher and nonteaching member shall file a detailed statement of his or her length of service as a teacher or nonteacher for which he or she claims credit. The retirement board shall determine what part of a year is the equivalent of a year of service. In computing the service, however, it shall credit no period of more than a month's duration during which a member was absent without pay, nor shall it credit for more than one year of service performed in any calendar year.
(b) For service as a teacher in the employment of the federal government, or a state or territory of the United States, or a governmental subdivision of that state or territory, the retirement board shall grant credit to the member: Provided, That the member shall pay to the system twelve percent of that member's gross salary earned during the first full year of current employment whether a member of the Teachers Retirement System or the Teachers' Defined Contribution Retirement System, times the number of years for which credit is granted, plus interest at a rate to be determined by the retirement board. The interest shall be deposited in the reserve fund and service credit granted at the time of retirement shall not exceed the lesser of 10 years or 50 percent of the member's total service as a teacher in West Virginia. Any purchase of out-of-state service, as provided in this article, shall not be used to establish eligibility for a retirement allowance and the retirement board shall grant credit for the purchased service as additional service only: Provided, however, That a purchase of out-of-state service is prohibited if the service is used to obtain a retirement benefit from another retirement system: Provided further, That salaries paid to members for service prior to entrance into the retirement system shall not be used to compute the average final salary of the member under the retirement system.
(c) No members shall be considered absent from service while serving as a member or employee of the Legislature of the State of West Virginia during any duly constituted session of that body or while serving as an elected member of a county commission during any duly constituted session of that body.
(d) No member shall be
considered absent from service as a teacher or nonteacher while serving as an
officer with a statewide professional teaching association, or who has served
in that capacity, and no retirant, who served in that capacity while a member,
shall be considered to have been absent from service as a teacher by reason of
that service: Provided, That the period of service credit granted for
that service shall not exceed ten years: Provided, however, That
a member or retirant who is serving or has served as an officer of a statewide
professional teaching association shall make deposits to the Teachers
Retirement System, for the time of any absence, in an amount double the amount
which he or she would have contributed in his or her regular assignment for a
like period of time
(e) (d) The Teachers Retirement System shall grant
service credit to any former or present member of the West Virginia Public
Employees Retirement System who has been a contributing member of the Teachers
Retirement System for more than three years, for service previously credited by
the Public Employees Retirement System upon his or her written request and: (1)
Shall require the transfer of the member's Public Employees Retirement System
accumulated contributions to the Teachers Retirement System; or (2) shall
require a repayment of the amount withdrawn from the Public Employees
Retirement System, plus interest at a rate to be determined by the retirement
board, compounded annually from the date of withdrawal to the date of payment,
any time prior to the member's effective retirement date: Provided, That
there shall be added by the member to the amounts transferred or repaid under
this subsection an amount which shall be sufficient to equal the contributions
he or she would have made had the member been under the Teachers Retirement
System during the period of his or her membership in the Public Employees
Retirement System, plus interest at a rate determined by the retirement board,
compounded annually from the date the additional contribution would have been
made had the member been under the Teachers Retirement System to the date of
payment. All interest paid or transferred shall be deposited in the reserve
fund.
(f) (e) For service as a teacher in an elementary
or secondary parochial school, located within this state and fully accredited
by the West Virginia Department of Education, the retirement board shall grant
credit to the member: Provided, That the member shall pay to the system
twelve percent of that member's gross salary earned during the first full year
of current employment whether a member of the Teachers Retirement System or the
Teachers' Defined Contribution Retirement System, times the number of years for
which credit is granted, plus interest at a rate to be determined by the
retirement board. The interest shall be deposited in the reserve fund and
service granted at the time of retirement shall not exceed the lesser of 10 years
or 50 percent of the member's total service as a teacher in the West Virginia
public school system. Any purchase of parochial school service, as provided in
this section, may not be used to establish eligibility for a retirement
allowance and retirement board shall grant credit for the purchase as
additional service only: Provided, however, That a purchase of parochial
school service is prohibited if the service is used to obtain a retirement
benefit from another retirement system.
(g) (f) Active members who previously worked in
Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) may receive service credit for
time served in that capacity: Provided, That in order to receive service
credit under the provisions of this subsection the following conditions must be
met: (1) The member must have moved from temporary employment with the
participating employer to permanent full-time employment with the participating
employer within one hundred twenty days following the termination of the
member's CETA employment; (2) the retirement board must receive evidence that
establishes to a reasonable degree of certainty as determined by the retirement
board that the member previously worked in CETA; and (3) the member shall pay
to the retirement board an amount equal to the employer and employee
contribution plus interest at the amount set by the retirement board for the
amount of service credit sought pursuant to this subsection: Provided,
however, That the maximum service credit that may be obtained under the
provisions of this subsection is two years: Provided further, That a
member must apply and pay for the service credit allowed under this subsection
and provide all necessary documentation by March 31, 2003: And provided
further, That the retirement board shall exercise due diligence to notify
affected employees of the provisions of this subsection.
(h) (g) If a member is not eligible for prior
service credit or pension as provided in this article, then his or her prior
service shall not be considered a part of his or her total service.
(i) (h) A member who withdrew from membership may
regain his or her former membership rights as specified in §18-7A-13 of this
code only in case he or she has served two years since his or her last
withdrawal.
(j) (i) Subject to the provisions of subsections
(a) through (k), inclusive, of this section, the retirement board shall verify
as soon as practicable the statements of service submitted. The retirement
board shall issue prior service certificates to all persons eligible for the
certificates under the provisions of this article. The certificates shall state
the length of the prior service credit, but in no case shall the prior service
credit exceed 40 years.
(k) (j) Notwithstanding any provision of this
article to the contrary, when a member is or has been elected to serve as a
member of the Legislature, and the proper discharge of his or her duties of
public office require that member to be absent from his or her teaching or
administrative duties, the time served in discharge of his or her duties of the
legislative office are credited as time served for purposes of computing
service credit: Provided, That the retirement board may not require any
additional contributions from that member in order for the retirement board to
credit him or her with the contributing service credit earned while discharging
official legislative duties: Provided, however, That nothing in this
section may be construed to relieve the employer from making the employer
contribution at the member's regular salary rate or rate of pay from that
employer on the contributing service credit earned while the member is
discharging his or her official legislative duties. These employer payments
shall commence as of June 1,2000: Provided further, That any member to
which the provisions of this subsection apply may elect to pay to the
retirement board an amount equal to what his or her contribution would have
been for those periods of time he or she was serving in the Legislature. The
periods of time upon which the member paid his or her contribution shall then
be included for purposes of determining his or her final average salary as well
as for determining years of service: And provided further, That a member
using the provisions of this subsection is not required to pay interest on any
contributions he or she may decide to make.
(l) (k) The Teachers Retirement System shall grant
service credit to any former member of the State Police Death, Disability and
Retirement System who has been a contributing member for more than three years
for service previously credited by the State Police Death, Disability and
Retirement System; and: (1) Shall require the transfer of the member's
contributions to the Teachers Retirement System; or (2) shall require a
repayment of the amount withdrawn any time prior to the member's retirement: Provided,
That the member shall add to the amounts transferred or repaid under this
paragraph an amount which is sufficient to equal the contributions he or she
would have made had the member been under the Teachers Retirement System during
the period of his or her membership in the State Police Death, Disability and
Retirement System plus interest at a rate to be determined by the retirement
board compounded annually from the date of withdrawal to the date of payment.
The interest paid shall be deposited in the reserve fund.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that members of the State Teachers Retirement System shall be considered absent from service as a teacher or nonteacher while serving as an officer with a statewide professional teaching association, or who has served in that capacity. The bill provides that retirants, who served in that capacity while members, shall be considered to have been absent from service as a teacher by reason of that service.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.