West Virginia Code 18-7A-26r – Minimum benefit for certain retired members; legislative declaration; state interest and public purpose
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that an important state interest exists in providing a minimum retirement annuity for certain retired members who are credited with twenty or more years of total service; that such program constitutes a public purpose; and that the exclusion of total service for certain employees of institutions of higher education is a reasonable and equitable exclusion for purposes of determining eligibility for such minimum benefits.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 18-7A-26r
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Internal Revenue Code: means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as it has been amended. See West Virginia Code 18-7A-3
- Member: means any person who has accumulated contributions standing to his or her credit in the State Teachers Retirement System. See West Virginia Code 18-7A-3
- Retirement system: means the State Teachers Retirement System established by this article. See West Virginia Code 18-7A-3
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Total service: means all service as a teacher or nonteacher while a member of the retirement system since last becoming a member and, in addition thereto, credit for prior service, if any. See West Virginia Code 18-7A-3
If the retirement annuity of a retired member (or if applicable, a spouse thereof) with at least twenty years of total service is less than $500 per month (including any supplemental or additional benefits provided by this article), then the monthly retirement annuity for any such retired member shall be increased to $500 per month: Provided, That any year of service while an employee of an institution of higher education shall not be taken into account for purposes of this section if his or her salary is capped under the retirement system at $4,800 per year pursuant to section fourteen-a of this article.
The payment of any minimum benefit under this section shall be in lieu of, and not in addition to, the payments of any retirement annuity or supplemental or additional benefits otherwise provided by this article: Provided, That the minimum benefit provided herein shall be subject to any limitations thereon under §415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as the same may be amended, and section twenty-eight-a of this article.
Any minimum benefit conferred herein shall not be retroactive to the time of retirement and shall apply only to members who have retired prior to the effective date of this section, or, if applicable, to beneficiaries receiving benefits under the retirement system prior to the effective date.
The minimum benefit provided herein shall be subject to a recommendation by the Governor for such minimum benefit through the delivery of an executive message to the Legislature and an appropriation by the Legislature for such minimum benefit, such appropriation to be made over a continuous six-year period following the effective date of this section.