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Pensions, Benefits and Retirement

P Passed

P HB12

Virginia Retirement System; early retirement provisions for certain local government officials. Reduces the age at which certain local government officials who are involuntarily terminated may retire without a penalty reduction from age 55 to 50. The bill also adds county, city, and town attorneys to the list of local government officials covered.

Patron - Kilgore

P HB14

Virginia Retirement System. Provides that the employees and retirees of a city or town which loses its status as a city or a town maintain their accrued retirement rights within the Virginia Retirement System.

Patron - Deeds

P HB79

Retirement plan; certain employees of public school divisions. Provides for the Virginia Retirement System, rather than the school boards, (i) to develop the policies and procedures to administer the optional retirement plan which may be offered by school boards for certain employees of public school divisions, and (ii) to determine the contribution by the school board to such retirement plan. The legislation provides that school boards which previously elected to provide an alternative retirement plan for employees may elect to have the foregoing provisions apply to such plan. Such election must be made prior to January 1, 2001.

Patron - Tata

P HB132

Deferred compensation plan for state employees; administrative fees. Provides that employers shall pay state employees' administrative fees for participating in the deferred compensation plan.

Patron - Putney

P HB133

Virginia Retirement System; limitation of board liability. Provides that the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System shall not be liable for losses to an employee's or beneficiary's account which result from the employee's or beneficiary's exercise of control over the account.

Patron - Putney

P HB134

Retirement; health insurance credits for retired local officers. Expands the recipient base of the retiree health insurance credit currently provided to certain local officers and their employees to include all constitutional officers and all their employees.

Patron - Putney

P HB135

Virginia Retirement System. Makes several technical corrections and clarifications to the retirement systems and programs administered by the Virginia Retirement System ("VRS"). The legislation (i) brings the newly created Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System ("VaLORS") into conformity with other VRS retirement programs by adding VaLORS to the list of VRS retirement programs which are conditionally exempt from the Privacy Protection Act, adding VaLORS members to the list of state employees who are not members of the regular state employee retirement system, adding VaLORS retirees to the other VRS retirees who may participate in the state retiree health insurance program and the group insurance program, adding VaLORS retirees to the VRS retirees who receive the health insurance credit and the option for service credit in lieu of the transitional severance benefit, authorizing service in VaLORS to be credited to members of the Judicial Retirement System, and conforming the administration of VaLORS death benefits to their administration in the State Police Officers' Retirement System; (ii) clarifies that certain retirees are credited with the greater of their years of state service or years as a teacher for establishing the health insurance credit; (iii) provides that the VRS Board may invest the assets of any VRS retirement system or program on a pooled basis; (iv) corrects the reference in § 51.1-142 to the number of years of service above which certain employees may purchase credit for prior years of service, from three to four; (v) provides that the credit for up to one year of service which may be purchased for any leave without pay for the birth or adoption of a child is on a per occurrence basis; (vi) deletes obsolete requirements associated with the Workforce Transition Act; (vii) changes from fifty-five to fifty certain references to minimum age requirements to conform to recent provisions for certain employees who are fifty years old and have at least thirty years of service; (viii) clarifies and brings current the additional retirement allowance which is adjusted biennially and paid to certain retirees until their sixty-fifth birthday; (ix) deletes an obsolete retirement benefit for judges; and (x) provides that of the six members appointed by the Governor to the Volunteer Firefighters' and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund Board, three shall come from a list provided by the Virginia State Firefighter's Association and three from the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads.

Patron - Putney

P HB143

Sickness and disability program for state employees. Provides that employees moving directly from a non-faculty position to a faculty position within the same institution of higher education between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 1999, may, upon request, maintain the sickness and disability benefits that they were receiving in the non-faculty position.

Patron - Deeds

P SB20

Virginia Retirement System. Provides that members may purchase up to one year of service for the birth or adoption of each child (in cases of unpaid leave of absences).

Patron - Puller

P SB28

Sickness and Disability Program for state employees. Makes technical changes, adds a definition for "existing employee," and provides that (i) employees participating in the newly created Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System are eligible for the program; (ii) the definitions of "partial disability" and "total disability" are changed to attain a consistent, complete, and cohesive definition of "disability" and to ensure that disability be determined according to employees' ability to perform "essential job functions"; (iii) payment may be made for accumulated disability credits upon employees' entry into long-term disability; (iv) the amount of annual sick leave and family and personal leave for new employees when they commence employment and in subsequent years is clarified; (v) the applicable waiting periods for disability benefits begin on the first day of a disability; (vi) the salary increases included in creditable compensation during periods of short-term disability are general salary increases; (vii) supplemental short-term disability benefits may cover periodic absences due to a major chronic condition; (viii) employees must apply for Social Security disability benefits to be eligible for long-term disability benefits, and must reapply and appeal Social Security denials of benefits or they will be deemed to have received such benefits which will reduce benefits which may be received under the state disability program; (ix) disability benefits are offset by employees' wages and salary from employment times the creditable compensation replacement percentage; (x) employees pay back, with interest, benefits wrongfully received under certain conditions; (xi) employees cannot receive disability benefits during periods of incarceration or when the disability results from the employee's commission of a felony; (xii) disability benefits are not payable to any employee determined to be noncompliant with the program; (xiii) the procedure for appeals which may be allowed by the VRS Board will be developed by the Board and modeled after the claims provisions provided in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974; and (xiv) no person shall receive more than one disability benefit at the same time.

Patron - Holland

P SB36

Retirement plan; certain employees of institutions of higher education. Removes the oversight from the Secretaries of Administration and Education of the policies and procedures developed by the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to administer the optional retirement plan for certain employees of institutions of higher education. The legislation permits VRS to appoint an advisory committee of higher education employees to provide guidance to VRS.

Patron - Miller, K.G.

P SB51

Virginia Retirement System; adjustments to ceilings on benefits. Provides that any adjustments to the ceilings on retirement benefits set forth in § 415 of the Internal Revenue Code will apply to members of the Virginia Retirement System, including those who have died, retired, or otherwise terminated service with a nonforfeitable right to a retirement allowance before the effective date of any such adjustments.

Patron - Stosch

P SB76

Retirement plan; University of Virginia Medical Center. Provides that all new employees of the University of Virginia Medical Center employed on or after July 1, 2000, shall be covered in a Medical Center retirement plan. Employees of the Medical Center hired before July 1, 2000, and persons hired on and after July 1, 2000, who are members of VRS, may elect, but are not required, to change to the Medical Center retirement plan. Contributions for the retirement of persons employed on or after July 1, 2000, and covered under a Medical Center retirement plan will be determined by the University of Virginia Board of Visitors. For employees of the Medical Center employed before July 1, 2000, who choose the Medical Center retirement plan, contributions to such plan shall be eight percent of creditable compensation. For employees who elect to remain members of VRS, the Medical Center is required to collect and pay all employee and employer contributions to VRS and for employees under VRS who elect to become members of a Medical Center plan, VRS is required to transfer to the Medical Center Retirement Plan assets equal to the actuarially determined present value of the employee's accrued basic benefit.

Patron - Holland

Patron - Barry

F Failed

F HB286

Virginia Retirement System benefits. Requires that the monthly service retirement allowance payable to teachers who retired with unreduced benefits prior to January 1, 1980, with at least 15 years of service be at least $800.

Patron - Jackson

F HB317

Retirement; disability. Provides an additional disability allowance of $500 per month to any former constitutional officer who is disabled as a result of a felonious act committed upon him during the official discharge of his constitutional duties prior to 1970.

Patron - Barlow

F HB358

Defined contribution retirement plan; Executive Director of the Virginia Advisory Council for Adult Education and Literacy. Permits the Executive Director of the Virginia Advisory Council for Adult Education and Literacy to participate in the defined contribution retirement plan.

Patron - Dillard

F HB647

Virginia Retirement System; restriction on denial of benefits. Prohibits the denial of retirement benefits to a state employee based on statements he makes in any civil proceeding, except a civil proceeding whose purpose is to determine his retirement benefits.

Patron - McClure

F SB77

Retirement; disability. Provides an additional disability allowance of $500 per month to any former constitutional officer who is disabled as a result of a felonious act committed upon him during the official discharge of his constitutional duties prior to 1970.

Patron - Holland

F SB132

Deferred retirement option program. Establishes a deferred retirement option program for state employees, state police officers, local government employees, teachers, and judges. To participate in the program, members must be eligible to retire under the Virginia Retirement System, State Police Officers' Retirement System, Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System or Judicial Retirement System with unreduced benefits. The employee continues working during the period of his participation in the program, not to exceed five years, during which time an amount equal to the amount of the monthly retirement benefit that he would have received, if he had retired instead of enrolling in the program, is deposited monthly in a deferred retirement option account. The deferred retirement option account balance, with interest, shall be paid to the participant when he retires. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2001.

Patron - Colgan

F SB151

Mandatory retirement under Judicial Retirement System. Repeals mandatory retirement for justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia and for judges of the Court of Appeals of Virginia on and after July 1, 2000.

Patron - Stolle

F SB257

Virginia Retirement System; credit for service. Provides service credit to any member in service who is (i) credited with five or more years of membership service; and (ii) an employee of a juvenile and domestic relations district court clerk's office for a county with a population between 56,900 and 57,050, as reported in the 1990 census of the population of the United States, for service rendered after January 1, 1975, as a permanent part-time employee in such clerk's office. A permanent part-time employee means a person compensated on a salaried basis and who works at least 20 hours per week.

Patron - Reynolds

C Carried Over

C HB1

Deferred retirement option program. Establishes a deferred retirement option program for state employees, state police officers, local government employees, teachers, and judges. To participate in the program, members must be eligible to retire under VRS, SPORS, VaLORS or the JRS with unreduced benefits. The employee continues working during the period of his participation in the program, not to exceed five years, during which time a percentage of the amount of the monthly retirement benefits that he would have received if he had retired instead of enrolling in the program is deposited in an account. The percentage, determined at an amount that ensures that the program does not affect employer contribution rates, shall not exceed 100 percent. The account balance, with interest, shall be paid to the participant when he retires.

Patron - Hamilton

C HB11

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; Department of Corrections internal investigators. Expands the definition of "employee" to include internal investigators of the Department of Corrections, making such individuals members of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Landes

C HB15

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; juvenile probation officers. Adds state juvenile probation officers to the employees participating in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Armstrong

C HB16

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds wardens, assistant wardens, field unit superintendents, and assistant field unit superintendents employed by the Department of Corrections to the list of employees participating in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Armstrong

C HB34

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds juvenile probation officers to the list of employees participating in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Ingram

C HB38

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds juvenile probation officers to the list of employees participating in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Parrish

C HB64

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds conservation officers of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to the list of employees participating in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Deeds

C HB73

Local retirement systems. Requires any locality that provides a retirement system outside of the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to provide its members who retire with applicable age and service requirements with retirement allowances that equal or exceed VRS allowances. Under current law, such localities are required to provide only two-thirds of the VRS allowance and only to members who retire at age 65 or older.

Patron - Callahan

C HB74

Retirement benefits; sheriffs and certain deputy sheriffs. Adds sheriffs in localities that participate in the Virginia Retirement System and certain deputy sheriffs, as members in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System ("VaLORS"). Currently, such sheriffs must be provided the same benefits outside VaLORS, and the same benefits may be provided to deputy sheriffs, but are not required.

Patron - Callahan

C HB75

Retirement for police officers; service requirements. Provides that a member of a local police department may retire at any age after 25 years of service and that there will be supplemental benefits for service beyond 25 years. Currently, the service requirement is 20 years, but the police officer must have attained the age of 50 years.

Patron - Callahan

C HB76

Retirement; state police officers. Provides that a state police officer who retires after 25 years of service shall not be a member in the state retirement plan if he becomes an employee of the state in another capacity. This also applies to local law enforcement officers who have been covered by the Virginia Retirement System.

Patron - Callahan

C HB90

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Expands membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include sworn members of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Patron - Landes

C HB108

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Expands the list of employees who are members of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include juvenile probation officers.

Patron - Cantor

C HB116

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds juvenile probation officers to the list of employees participating in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - DeBoer

C HB117

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Expands membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include employees, including support staff, of the Forensic Unit within the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services.

Patron - DeBoer

C HB139

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Expands membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include police officers of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services.

Patron - Davis

C HB146

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Expands membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include teachers and other instructional personnel in the Department of Correctional Education.

Patron - Deeds

C HB147

Virginia Retirement System; service retirement allowance. Provides an additional retirement allowance for employees and teachers who retire with more than 30 years of creditable service, and removes the ceiling on the health insurance credit provided to them. The additional allowance is equal to one percent of the employee's average final compensation multiplied by the amount by which his creditable service exceeds 30 years. Other statutory provisions regarding the health insurance credit provided in cases of disability are modified to conform to the removal of the ceiling on such credits. The bill does not apply to any person who retires prior to July 1, 200l.

Patron - Tata

C HB151

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Expands membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include police officers of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services.

Patron - Grayson

C HB159

Retirement benefits; law enforcement and related positions. Changes the cessation date of the additional allowance payable under the State Police Officers' Retirement System and the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System from when the member attains the age of 65 to when the member attains the minimum age of eligibility for Social Security retirement benefits. The change also would apply to local law enforcement and related employees who are provided benefits equivalent to those provided under the State Police Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Harris

C HB161

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds conservation officers of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to the list of employees participating in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. The bill has a technical correction.

Patron - Rollison

C HB172

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior service credit. Permits certain members of the Virginia Retirement System to purchase up to four years of prior service credit at the rate of five percent of salary for periods of prior service with certain public employers other than the Commonwealth, even if such prior service already is creditable with another retirement system. Current law prohibits such purchase if the prior service already is creditable with another retirement system. The bill contains a technical amendment.

Patron - Phillips

C HB184

Virginia Retirement System; prior service credit. Permits state employees, for retirement benefit purposes, to purchase up to four years of prior service credit for service in a full-time hourly wage position with the Commonwealth prior to July 1, 1988. The cost to the employee is five percent of his present annual compensation for each year to be credited, or five percent of the average of his highest three years of compensation, whichever is greater.

Patron - Bloxom

C HB191

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds juvenile probation officers to the list of employees participating in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Abbitt

C HB193

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Expands membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include parole examiners employed by the Parole Board.

Patron - Abbitt

C HB200

Virginia Retirement System; teachers. Provides that in calculating retirement benefits for teachers, creditable compensation includes all taxable compensation plus certain elective salary reductions or deferrals.

Patron - Kilgore

C HB201

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Expands the list of employees who are members of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include juvenile probation officers.

Patron - Kilgore

C HB216

Virginia Retirement System; service credit for accumulated sick leave. Permits state employees who are vested in the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to convert their sick leave balances to retirement service credits at the rate of 173 sick leave hours for each month of service credit, up to a maximum of five years, at any time during their employment. Current law permits an employee, upon retirement, to use such sums as his employer may provide as payment for any unused sick leave balances to purchase service credit at an amount equal to the lesser of (i) the present value of the actuarial liability represented by additional service as determined by VRS or (ii) 20 percent of his present salary or the average annual creditable compensation during his 36 highest consecutive months of creditable service, whichever is greater.

Patron - Phillips

C HB218

Virginia Retirement System; teachers. Provides that in calculating retirement benefits for teachers, creditable compensation includes all taxable compensation plus certain elective salary reductions or deferrals.

Patron - Phillips

C HB219

Retirement benefits for certain local employees. Requires that retirement benefits equivalent to retirement benefits provided to state police be provided to jail officers of regional jail farms, regional jails, or jail authorities that participate in the Virginia Retirement System. Under current law, the provision of such benefits is permissive, but not mandatory.

Patron - Callahan

C HB250

Retirement; eligibility for local law enforcement officers' benefit. Provides that superintendents and detention officers of regional or local juvenile detention facilities may receive the enhanced benefits for local law enforcement officers, as approved by the respective juvenile detention board or authority and the participating political subdivisions of such entities.

Patron - Dillard

C HB251

Virginia Retirement System; school instructional and administrative personnel. Provides that certain retired schoolteachers and administrative employees may return to teach without interrupting their retirement benefits.

Patron - Dillard

C HB252

Virginia Retirement System; retirees hired as teachers. Provides that retired members of the Virginia Retirement System may be hired as teachers without interrupting their retirement benefits.

Patron - Dillard

C HB256

Deferred compensation plan for government employees. Provides that the same contribution made by the Commonwealth state employees' deferred compensation accounts also be made to teachers' deferred compensation accounts. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2001.

Patron - Callahan

C HB268

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of service credit. Permits state employees who formerly worked for certain political subdivisions to purchase the amount of service credit in their retirement accounts with the political subdivisions that otherwise did not transfer into their retirement account with the Virginia Retirement System. The employee must pay an amount equal to five percent of his present annual compensation for each year to be credited or five percent of his average annual creditable compensation during his 36 highest consecutive months of creditable service, whichever is greater.

Patron - Hargrove

C HB272

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior military service credit. Permits vested members of the Virginia Retirement System to purchase prior service credit for active-duty service in the military at a cost of five percent of the member's current salary or highest three consecutive years of salary, whichever is greater, for each year purchased. Current law limits such purchases to four years of service credit and permits additional purchases under certain circumstances at higher costs.

Patron - Kilgore

C HB273

Life insurance benefits; retired state employees. Provides that retired state employees, including employees retired for disability, shall have group life insurance benefits equal to their annual salaries as of their retirement dates. Currently, a retiree's group life insurance benefits are reduced annually until they are equal to 50 percent of his annual salary as of his retirement date.

Patron - Kilgore

C HB284

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Expands membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include wildlife worker, wildlife biologist assistant, wildlife biologist, wildlife biologist manager, wildlife biologist assistant director of wildlife operations, wildlife biologist assistant director of wildlife resources, and wildlife biologist director in the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Patron - Weatherholtz

C HB294

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; additional retirement allowance. Provides that the additional retirement allowance payable until the age of 65 to retirees under the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System ("VaLORS"), be paid pro rata according to the member's years of service in a VaLORS position. Eligibility for the allowance begins when a member has served at least five years in a VaLORS position. Under current law, eligibility for certain members begins only after 20 years of service in a VaLORS position.

Patron - Ruff

C HB303

Virginia Retirement System; prior service credit. Permits members of the Virginia Retirement System who have at least five years of service to purchase up to five years of service credit for prior years of service with certain public employers other than the Commonwealth. The cost to the member is five percent of salary per year of service purchased. Currently, only four years of such service credit may be purchased, and the member must have at least 25 years of service.

Patron - Diamonstein

C HB305

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. Expands the list of employees who are members of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include juvenile probation officers, the direct supervisors of juvenile probation officers, and the direct supervisors of adult probation and parole officers.

Patron - Armstrong

C HB318

Retirement benefits; sheriffs and certain deputy sheriffs. Adds sheriffs in localities that participate in the Virginia Retirement System and certain deputy sheriffs, as members in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System ("VaLORS"). Currently, such sheriffs must be provided the same benefits outside VaLORS, and the same benefits may be provided to deputy sheriffs, but are not required.

Patron - Harris

C HB328

Retirement benefits for local public safety employees. Provides that any member of a police department or fire department who becomes disabled while discharging official duties or who has completed 20 years of service and attained the age of 50 years may retire with certain disability or retirement benefits. The bill applies to all counties having the county manager plan of government. Current law provides such benefits only to members of police departments and does not apply to Arlington County.

Patron - Callahan

C HB332

Virginia Retirement System; member contributions. Requires that the member's contribution to the Virginia Retirement System (five percent of creditable compensation) for local and state employees be paid by the member's employer. Under current law, such contribution by the employer is permissive. The Commonwealth and most localities currently pay the contribution on behalf of employees.

Patron - Griffith

C HB353

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior service credit. Permits state employees who are members in service of the Virginia Retirement System to purchase prior service credit on a pro rata basis for periods of part-time, salaried employment with the Commonwealth.

Patron - Shuler

C HB371

Retirement benefits; sheriffs and certain deputy sheriffs. Adds sheriffs in localities that participate in the Virginia Retirement System and certain deputy sheriffs, as members in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System ("VaLORS"). Currently, such sheriffs must be provided the same benefits outside VaLORS, and the same benefits may be provided to deputy sheriffs, but are not required.

Patron - Tate

C HB372

Retirement benefits; law enforcement and related positions. Changes the cessation date of the additional allowance payable under the State Police Officers' Retirement System and the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System from when the member attains the age of 65 to when the member attains the minimum age of eligibility for Social Security retirement benefits. The change also would apply to local law enforcement and related employees who are provided benefits equivalent to those provided under the State Police Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Tate

C HB423

Virginia Retirement System; service credit for accumulated leave. Permits state employees who are vested in the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to convert their sick leave, annual leave, personal leave, or compensatory leave balances to retirement service credits at the rate of 173 sick leave hours for each month of service credit, up to a maximum of five years. Current law permits an employee, upon retirement, to use such sums as his employer may provide as payment for any unused sick leave balances to purchase service credit at an amount equal to the lesser of (i) the present value of the actuarial liability represented by additional service as determined by VRS or (ii) 20 percent of his present salary or the average annual creditable compensation during his 36 highest consecutive months of creditable service, whichever is greater.

Patron - McEachin

C HB462

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Expands the list of employees who are members of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to include juvenile probation officers.

Patron - Jones, J.C.

C HB652

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds juvenile probation officers to the list of employees participating in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Diamonstein

C HB947

Deferred retirement option program. Establishes a deferred retirement option program for state employees, state police officers, local government employees, teachers, and judges. To participate in the program, members must be eligible to retire under VRS, SPORS, VaLORS or the JRS with unreduced benefits. The employee continues working during the period of his participation in the program, not to exceed five years, during which time a percentage of the amount of the monthly retirement benefits that he would have received if he had retired instead of enrolling in the program is deposited in an account. The percentage, determined at an amount that ensures that the program does not affect employer contribution rates, shall not exceed 100 percent. The account balance, with interest, shall be paid to the participant when he retires. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2001.

Patron - Keister

C SB10

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; juvenile probation officers. Adds state juvenile probation officers to the employees participating in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.

Patron - Houck

C SB37

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. Extends membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to all persons credited with at least 20 years of service rendered in a hazardous position (a position that entitled a person to membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System effective October 1, 1999), regardless of whether such persons worked in a hazardous position after October 1, 1999.

Patron - Reynolds

C SB38

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. Extends membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to all persons employed in court services units (including, but not limited to, juvenile probation officers, court service unit directors, and clerical staff) of the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Patron - Reynolds

C SB44

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of credit for prior military service. Permits purchase of credit for prior military service, under certain conditions, even when the prior military service is creditable to another retirement system, if such is required by federal statutes governing military retirement.

Patron - Chichester

C SB56

Virginia Retirement System; teachers. Provides that in calculating retirement benefits for teachers, creditable compensation includes all taxable compensation plus certain elective salary reductions or deferrals.

Patron - Trumbo

C SB57

Virginia Retirement System; member contributions. Requires that the member's contribution to the Virginia Retirement System (five percent of creditable compensation) for local and state employees be paid by the member's employer. Under current law, such contribution by the employer is permissive. The Commonwealth and most localities currently pay the contribution on behalf of employees.

Patron - Trumbo

C SB68

Retirement benefits; sheriffs and certain deputy sheriffs. Adds sheriffs in localities that participate in the Virginia Retirement System and certain deputy sheriffs, as members in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System ("VaLORS"). Currently, such sheriffs must be provided the same benefits outside VaLORS, and the same benefits may be provided to deputy sheriffs, but are not required.

Patron - Bolling

C SB72

Deferred retirement option program. Establishes a deferred retirement option program for teachers eligible to retire under VRS with unreduced benefits. Under the program, a teacher will continue working during the period of his participation in the program, not to exceed five years, during which time a percentage of the amount of the monthly retirement benefits that he would have received if he had retired instead of enrolling in the program is deposited in an account. The percentage, determined at an amount that ensures that the program does not affect employer contribution rates, shall not exceed 100 percent. The account balance, with interest, shall be paid to a participating teacher when he retires. This is an optional program. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2001.

Patron - Williams

C SB94

Virginia Retirement System benefits. Requires that the monthly service retirement allowance payable to teachers who retired with unreduced benefits prior to January 1, 1980, with at least 15 years of service be at least $800.

Patron - Reynolds

C SB97

Prior service credit for military service. Allows a member of the Virginia Retirement System who has 25 or more years of creditable service to purchase prior service credit for active duty military service at a cost of one percent of salary if the service was in (i) a combat theater of operation during world War II, (ii) an area designated as a combat zone pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code, (iii) a qualified hazardous duty area defined in P.L. 104-117, or (iv) Somalia during the conduct of Operation Restore Hope. Currently, such persons may purchase prior service credit for active duty military service, whether it was in the specified areas or not, at a cost of five percent of salary.

Patron - Puckett

C SB131

Virginia Retirement System benefits. Provides that the monthly retirement allowance payable to any teacher who has (i) at least 25 years of creditable service as a teacher and is at least 65 years old; or (ii) at least 30 years of creditable service as a teacher, shall not be less than $800.

Patron - Colgan

C SB146

Virginia Retirement System; retirees hired as teachers. Provides that retired persons who are members of the Virginia Retirement System may be hired as teachers without interrupting their retirement benefits. This bill applies to licensed instructional personnel who have been (i) retired for at least one year from employment with a Virginia local school board before returning to the classroom on a full-time basis; (ii) licensed to teach in the Commonwealth; and (iii) hired on an annual contract basis and ineligible for continuing contract status.

Patron - Couric

C SB152

Deferred retirement option program. Establishes a deferred retirement option program for state employees, state police officers, local government employees, teachers, and judges. To participate in the program, members must be eligible to retire under VRS, SPORS, VaLORS or the JRS with unreduced benefits. The employee continues working during the period of his participation in the program, not to exceed five years, during which time a percentage of the amount of the monthly retirement benefits that he would have received if he had retired instead of enrolling in the program is deposited in an account. The percentage, determined at an amount that ensures that the program does not affect employer contribution rates, shall not exceed 100 percent. The account balance, with interest, shall be paid to the participant when he retires. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2001.

Patron - Stolle