CONTENTS | < PREVIOUS | NEXT > | BILL INDEX

Pensions, Benefits and Retirement

P Passed

P HB252

Virginia Retirement System; retirees hired as teachers and administrative personnel. Provides that retired members of the Virginia Retirement System may be hired as teachers and administrative personnel without interrupting their retirement benefits. Such members must be retired for a certain period of time before they can return to work as teachers and administrative personnel without their retirement benefits being interrupted.
Patron - Dillard

P HB1589

P HB1739

Virginia Retirement System; additional accidental death and dismemberment benefits. Requires the Board of Trustees of VRS to purchase three additional accidental death benefits for employees participating in the Virginia Retirement System, the State Police Officers' Retirement System, the Judicial Retirement System, or the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. If, as a result of an accident, an insured employee dies at least 75 miles from his principle residence, an additional benefit up to $5,000 shall be paid for the transportation of the deceased to a mortuary. An additional benefit up to $50,000 shall be paid if an insured employee dies or suffers a dismemberment while driving or riding in a private passenger vehicle, provided that the insured employee was wearing a seatbelt and the driver of the vehicle held a current license and was not intoxicated, impaired, or under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident. An additional benefit up to $50,000 shall be paid if an insured employee dies or suffers a dismemberment as a result of a felonious assault committed by someone other than an immediate family member. In addition, if the insured employee dies as a result of the felonious assault and is survived by dependent children, the Virginia Retirement System shall open a savings trust account for each dependent child under the Virginia College Savings Plan. VRS shall contribute into the savings trust account of each dependent child an amount approximately equal to the current cost of purchasing in full a prepaid tuition contract for tuition at a four-year public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. A qualifying child may use funds in the savings trust account for tuition, room, and board, and other expenses at institutions of higher education. This bill is identical to SB 1071.
Patron - Tata

P HB1740

Creation of medical boards for the Virginia Retirement System. Provides that the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System (Board) may create one or more medical boards composed of physicians or other health care professionals. The Code of Virginia currently provides that the Board may employ one medical board composed of four physicians.
Patron - Bryant

P HB1741

Optional retirement plans. Eliminates the right of state employees participating in the defined contribution plan to transfer back to the retirement system after 10 years, and clarifies that the election to be covered by the retirement system provided in the defined contribution plan for local school superintendents is available only for new school superintendents (i.e. current superintendents already were provided irrevocable election). The bill also makes technical changes to the optional retirement plans for certain employees of institutions of higher education; for certain employees of public school divisions; and for certain appointees of the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Lieutenant Governor to make them more consistent in administration. Because the modification to the defined contribution plan for certain state employees eliminates the right for them to transfer to the retirement system after 10 years, the bill has a second enactment clause that gives such employees 90 days from the bill's effective date to transfer to the retirement system.
Patron - Moss

P HB1748

Virginia Retirement System; benefit restoration plans. Requires the Board of Directors of VRS to establish and administer a benefit restoration plan for VRS members, including members of local governments that participate in VRS. The plan will provide pension benefits to members whose annual benefits would otherwise be limited by § 415 (b) of the Internal Revenue Code. Benefit restoration plans are to be funded from the pension contributions that are required under current law. The bill also allows local governments not participating in VRS to establish benefit restoration plans. This bill is identical to SB 856.
Patron - May

P HB1776

Virginia Retirement System. Permits VRS to transfer member contributions paid by employers on or after July 1, 1980, to individual member accounts, provided that such contributions have been previously deposited in the employer's account. This bill is identical to SB 840.
Patron - Ingram

P HB1909

Virginia Sickness and Disability Program. Make several technical corrections to the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program, including eliminating provisions requiring the termination of disability benefits if an employee's wages and salary from employment exceed 85 percent of his predisability earnings.
Patron - Callahan

P HB1924

Virginia Retirement System; coordination of benefits. Provides for the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System to jointly develop guidelines and procedures with the Department of Human Resource Management for coordinating benefits of the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program administered by the Virginia Retirement System and the Workers' Compensation Program administered by the Department of Human Resource Management. Current law requires the Board to coordinate benefits with the Division of Risk Management of the Department of Treasury. Under legislation passed in the 2000 Session of the General Assembly, however, the administration of the Worker's Compensation Program was transferred from the Division of Risk Management to the Department of Human Resource Management. This bill is identical to SB 963.
Patron - Ingram

P HB1960

Virginia Retirement System; group life, accidental death, and dismemberment insurance. Modifies the group life, accidental death, and dismemberment insurance program to (i) permit employees to purchase the additional, optional coverage (up to $500,000) regardless of salary and (ii) permit employees who retire to continue optional life insurance coverage on themselves and on spouses and minor dependents provided that the employee was continuously insured for such coverage for at least 60 continuous months prior to retirement. Such optional life insurance on the employee that is continued by a retiring employee (a) shall not exceed $200,000; (b) shall reduce annually by incremental amounts beginning at age 65;; and (c) shall cease when the retiree attains age 80, fails to pay the required premium, or returns to a covered position. Optional life insurance on a spouse or minor dependent that is continued by a retiree shall cease upon (1) the retiree attaining age 80, (2) the death of the retiree, (3) divorce (for spousal coverage), or (4) the minor dependent attaining a certain age under certain conditions, or marrying.
Patron - Kilgore

P HB2079

Virginia Firefighters' and Rescue Squad Workers' Service Award Fund. Revises the Virginia Firefighters' and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund so that it may receive favorable tax treatment, to provide adequate death benefits, and to permit a member to name his own beneficiary. The bill also requires that additional contributions to the Fund (besides contributions from the General Fund) shall benefit all members of the Fund. This bill repeals a contingency so that the bill will become effective on July 1, 2001.
Patron - Putney

P HB2081

Law Officers' Retirement System. Modifies the retirement allowance paid under the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VaLORS) by increasing from 1.7 percent to 2.0 percent the percentage of average final compensation multiplied by the years of creditable service in a VaLORS-covered or similar position, and by deleting the supplemental allowance currently paid to members upon retirement until age 65 (currently $9,264 annually). This provision applies to employees who become members of VaLORS on or after July 1, 2001, and to current employees who elect to accept the modifications by October 31, 2001. The bill also amends the State Police Officers' Retirement System (SPORS) to provide that the annual allowance is paid from the date of his retirement until his Social Security retirement age, rather than until age 65.
Patron - Putney

P HB2170

Parking regulation. Provides that violators of Chesterfield County parking ordinances shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $75, the proceeds from which shall be paid into the locality's general fund.
Patron - Nixon

P HB2293

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior service credit. Makes several changes to the current law concerning the purchase of prior service credit including technical amendments. The purchase of retirement credit for prior military service is permitted even when the prior military service is creditable to another retirement system, if such is required by federal statutes governing military retirement. The bill also provides that if a person becomes a member of the retirement system on or after July 1, 2001, and elects to purchase prior service within three years from his first date of hire, he must pay an amount equal to five percent of his present annual compensation or five percent of his average annual compensation during his 36 highest consecutive months of creditable service, whichever is greater. At any other time, such member must pay an amount equal to actuarial equivalent cost. Members in service immediately before July 1, 2001, have three years from the date they first became eligible to purchase the prior service (generally their date of hire) or until July 1, 2004, (whichever is later) to purchase such service at the reduced rate. If the member does not purchase the prior service within this time period, the cost to the member to purchase the service shall be the actuarial cost. The bill also provides for the purchase of prior service by member for periods of employment in an hourly wage position with the Commonwealth. In general, only four years of prior service credit may be purchased for each eligible category of prior service. Current law provides that any years of eligible prior service, beyond four years, may be purchased at a cost of 15 percent of a member's present annual compensation. This bill is identical to SB 1077.
Patron - Cox

P HB2603

Virginia Outdoors Foundation; retirement plan. Permits the Virginia Outdoors Foundation ("Foundation") to develop its own retirement plan for some or all of its employees. Any such current employee who is a member of the Virginia Retirement System may elect to maintain his membership in the Virginia Retirement System. All persons who become employees of the Foundation on and after July 1, 2001, shall participate in the Foundation's retirement plan.
Patron - Bloxom

P HB2629

Virginia Retirement System; partial lump-sum payment option. Establishes lump-sum payment options for the payment of retirement allowances to eligible retiring members. A member who has satisfied the requirements for normal retirement or who has remained in service for at least three years after the date he was first eligible for an unreduced service retirement allowance may elect to receive a lump-sum distribution up to 36 times the monthly amount of his service retirement allowance. A member who has remained in service for at least two years after the date he was first eligible for an unreduced service retirement allowance may elect to receive a lump-sum distribution up to 24 times the monthly amount of his service retirement allowance. A member who has remained in service for at least one year after the date he was first eligible for an unreduced service retirement allowance may elect to receive a lump-sum distribution equal to 12 times the monthly amount of his service retirement allowance. If an eligible retiring member elects to receive a lump-sum distribution, his retirement allowance shall be reduced on an actuarially equivalent basis. This bill is identical to SB 843.
Patron - Tata

P HB2750

Freedom of Information; closed meetings; scholastic records. Provides that the discussion or consideration of any matter that would involve the disclosure of information contained in a scholastic record would be a proper purpose for which a public body may convene in a closed meeting. Currently, this exception is limited to the discussion or consideration of admission or disciplinary matter concerning a student.
Patron - Blevins

P SB840

P SB843

P SB856

P SB945

Virginia Retirement System benefits. Provides for an increase, beginning July 1, 2001, of the monthly retirement allowance payable to any person retired under the Virginia Retirement System or the State Police Officers' Retirement System (or their predecessor systems) before January 1, 1980, who has at least 15 years of creditable service. The monthly allowance will be increased by adding to the amount of monthly allowance the person would have received as of June 30, 2001, (i) four dollars multiplied by the member's number of years of creditable service plus (ii) four dollars multiplied by the number of years between such member's retirement date and December 31, 1979.
Patron - Colgan

P SB949

Virginia Retirement System; surviving spouses remarrying. Provides that certain retirement allowances to surviving spouses continue even when the surviving spouse remarries. Under current law, the surviving spouse of a deceased member of VRS will receive a retirement allowance if the member died in service from a cause that is compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act. However, the retirement allowance payment is discontinued if the surviving spouse remarries. This bill would continue retirement allowances to these surviving spouses who remarry. Surviving spouses of VRS members who have remarried before the effective date of the bill are also covered under the bill's provisions.
Patron - Colgan

P SB963

Virginia Retirement System; coordination of benefits. Provides for the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System to jointly develop guidelines and procedures with the Department of Human Resource Management to coordinate benefits the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program administered by the Virginia Retirement System and the Workers' Compensation Program administered by the Department of Human Resource Management. Current law requires the Board to coordinate benefits with the Division of Risk Management of the Department of Treasury. Under legislation passed in the 2000 Session of the General Assembly, however, the administration of the Worker's Compensation Program was transferred from the Division of Risk Management to the Department. This bill is identical to HB 1924.
Patron - Trumbo

P SB1071

P SB1077

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior service credit. Makes several changes to the current law concerning the purchase of prior service credit including technical amendments. The purchase of retirement credit for prior military service is permitted even when the prior military service is creditable to another retirement system, if such is required by federal statutes governing military retirement. The bill also provides that if a person becomes a member of the retirement system on or after July 1, 2001, and elects to purchase prior service within three years from his first date of hire, he must pay an amount equal to five percent of his present annual compensation or five percent of his average annual compensation during his 36 highest consecutive months of creditable service, whichever is greater. At any other time, such member must pay an amount equal to actuarial equivalent cost. Members in service immediately before July 1, 2001, have three years from the date they first became eligible to purchase the prior service (generally their date of hire) or until July 1, 2004, (whichever is later) to purchase such service at the reduced rate. If the member does not purchase the prior service within this time period, the cost to the member to purchase the service shall be the actuarial cost. The bill also provides for the purchase of prior service by a member for periods of employment in an hourly wage position with the Commonwealth. In general, only four years of prior service credit may be purchased for each eligible category of prior service. Current law provides that any years of eligible prior service, beyond four years, may be purchased at a cost of 15 percent of a member's present annual compensation. This bill is identical to HB 2293 and incorporates SB 818 and SB 854.
Patron - Miller, K.G.

F Failed

F 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

F HB1644

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior military service credit. Permits certain employees to purchase all periods of prior active military service at the rate of five percent for each year to be credited for retirement purposes, provided that any portion of a period of prior service lasted at least 180 consecutive days. Under current law, only those periods of prior military service lasting at least 180 consecutive days may be purchased at that rate.
Patron - Jackson

F HB1647

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 - Dudley

F HB1659

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 - Parrish

F HB1663

Virginia Retirement System; credit for service. Provides service credit to any member in service who (i) is credited with five or more years of membership service, and (ii) is an employee of a juvenile and domestic relations court in a judicial district that includes at least one county with a population between 45,800 and 45,900, for service rendered after January 1, 1984, and prior to January 1, 1995, as a permanent part-time employee and as an employee paid on an hourly basis.
Patron - Johnson

F HB1666

Deferred compensation plan for government employees. Provides that the Commonwealth shall transfer funds to teachers' deferred compensation accounts in any amounts that may be appropriated for such purposes from time to time and directs the Virginia Retirement System to work with local school superintendents to develop appropriate procedures.
Patron - Callahan

F HB1668

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

F HB1669

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 has reached the age of 50 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 in counties having the county manager plan of government, except Arlington County.
Patron - Callahan

F HB1688

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, 2002.
Patron - Hamilton

F HB1751

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

F HB1811

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds to the membership of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (i) any sworn member of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles and (ii) any driver's license examiner for the Department of Motor Vehicles who previously had sworn police power in the same or similar position with DMV or a predecessor agency of DMV and has continued in such position, without break in service, from that time to, at least, July 1, 2001.
Patron - Cranwell

F HB1816

Retirement; creditable compensation for teachers. Provides that creditable compensation for teachers may include remuneration for extra duties and remuneration for teaching on a contractual basis during the summer or after normal daytime school hours.
Patron - Kilgore

F HB1818

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

F HB1820

Virginia Retirement System; prior service credit. Permits any member in service to receive service credit for prior service rendered in a permanent part-time position.
Patron - Armstrong

F HB1821

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

F HB1896

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior service credit. Permits any member in service who has at least 25 years of creditable service to purchase up to one year of prior service credit for service while training in any of the reserve components of the armed forces of the United States or of the National Guard at the rate of five percent of salary.
Patron - Griffith

F HB2005

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior service credit for military service. Lowers from 25 years to 20 years the minimum length of time a member must be covered by the Virginia Retirement System before being eligible to purchase up to four years of prior service credit for active duty military service at the rate of five percent of salary for each year to be credited.
Patron - Johnson

F HB2024

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

F HB2195

Judicial retirement. Allows members of the Judicial Retirement System to retire at age 55 with a minimum of 25 years of actual unweighted service in the judiciary without taking the deduction required under current law.
Patron - Crittenden

F HB2277

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior service credit. Permits any member in service to purchase service credit for prior service performed pursuant to the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act under former 29 USC § 801 et seq. for an employer participating in the Virginia Retirement System at the rate of five percent of salary for each year purchased.
Patron - Johnson

F HB2510

Retirement; continuation of benefits to retired teachers hired during teacher shortage. Permits retired teachers to return to teach without interrupting their retirement benefits under certain conditions, including that the position is among those designated by the Superintendent of Public Instruction as suffering from a teacher shortage geographically or by subject matter. The bill also requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to report annually on such teacher shortages. This bill has been incorporated into HB 1589.
Patron - Reid

F HB2550

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of service credit for military service. Permits any vested member in service to purchase service credits for all prior military service at the rate of five percent of salary for each year of service purchased. Under current law, only members in service with 25 or more years of creditable service may purchase prior military service at the five-percent rate, and only up to four years of such prior service. Current law permits the purchase of such service in excess of four years at the rate of 15 percent of salary for each year to be credited.
Patron - Katzen

F HB2620

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. Adds special game wardens appointed prior to January 1, 1995, to membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.
Patron - Kilgore

F HB2630

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior service credit. Permits any member in service to purchase service credit for prior service performed pursuant to the Job Training Partnership Act under 29 USC § 1501 et seq. for an employer participating in the Virginia Retirement System, at the rate of five percent of salary for each year purchased.
Patron - Clement

F HB2638

Retirement; benefits for certain local employees. Adds emergency medical technicians to the group of local employees eligible, at local option, to receive retirement benefits equivalent to the retirement benefits provided to retired state police officers. The bill also mandates that fire fighters and emergency medical technicians be permitted to retire regardless of age after 25 years of service, without any actuarial reduction in the amount of the retirement allowance.
Patron - Callahan

F HB2775

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of credit for prior military service. Reduces from 180 consecutive days to 120 consecutive days the minimum length of prior military service required to qualify for prior military service that may be purchased as service credit by any vested member in the Virginia Retirement System with at least 25 years of service at the rate of five percent of salary for each year purchased, up to a maximum of four years.
Patron - Ingram

F HB2783

Deferred compensation plan; local school board employees. Requires that the Commonwealth's contribution to state employees' deferred compensation accounts also be made for the benefit of local school board employees.
Patron - Diamonstein

F SB818

Virginia Retirement System; prior service credit. Permits state employees, for retirement benefit purposes, to purchase up to two 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 purchase 12 months of service is five percent of his present annual compensation or five percent of the average of his highest three years of compensation, whichever is greater. This bill has been incorporated into SB 1077.
Patron - Edwards

F SB854

Virginia Retirement System; prior service credit. Permits state employees, for retirement benefit purposes, to purchase up to one year of prior service credit for service in a full-time hourly wage position with the Commonwealth prior to July 1, 1988. The cost to purchase 12 months of service is five percent of his present annual compensation or five percent of the average of his highest three years of compensation, whichever is greater.This bill has been incorporated into SB 1077.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB870

Virginia Retirement System and State Police Officers' Retirement System. Increases the monthly retirement allowance of persons who retired from the Virginia Retirement System and the State Police Officers' Retirement System prior to 1980. The retirement allowance received by such persons for the month of June 2001 will be increased by 10 percent in the month beginning July 2001. All post-retirement supplements will be based on the increased monthly retirement allowance amount.
Patron - Puller

F SB895

Retirement allowances under the Virginia Retirement System, State Police Officers' Retirement System, and Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. Increases the retirement allowances paid under the Virginia Retirement System, State Police Officers' Retirement System, and Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System by increasing from 1.7 percent to 2.0 percent the percentage of average final compensation multiplied by the years of creditable service for purposes of computing a member's retirement allowance.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB942

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of prior service credit. Creates an additional purchase of prior service option for teachers who are spouses of military persons. Teachers with at least 15 years of creditable service as a licensed teacher in the Commonwealth who are married for 20 years or more to a person on active duty military service, for 20 years or more, may purchase up to 15 years of prior service at a cost of five percent of their present annual compensation for each year to be credited or five percent of their average annual creditable compensation during their 36 highest consecutive months of creditable service, whichever is greater.
Patron - Colgan

F SB969

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Includes in the membership of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System any employee of the Department of Corrections whose normal duties require him regularly to be in the presence of inmate populations.
Patron - Lucas

F SB994

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. Modifies the retirement allowance paid under the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System ("VaLORS") by increasing from 1.7 percent to 2.5 percent the percentage of average final compensation multiplied by the years of creditable service in a VaLORS-covered or similar position, and by deleting the supplemental allowance currently paid to members upon retirement until age 65 (currently $9,264 annually). The bill applies to employees who become members of VaLORS on or after July 1, 2001, and to current employees who elect to accept the modifications by October 31, 2001.
Patron - Stolle

F SB995

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. Modifies the retirement allowance paid under the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System ("VaLORS) by increasing from 1.7 percent to 2.5 percent the percentage of average final compensation multiplied by the years of creditable service in a VaLORS-covered or similar position, and by deleting the supplemental allowance currently paid to members upon retirement until age 65 (currently $9,264 annually). The bill applies to employees who become members of VaLORS on or after July 1, 2001, and to current employees who elect to accept the modifications by October 31, 2001.
Patron - Stolle

F SB996

State Police Officers'Retirement System. Changes the period in which the $9,264 annual supplement is paid from up until age 65 to the member's full retirement age under the Social Security Act.
Patron - Stolle

F SB1000

Virginia Sickness and Disability Program. Enrolls certain state employees into the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP) unless such employees opt not to be enrolled. Members of the Virginia Retirement System, the State Police Officers' Retirement System, the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System, certain part-time employees of the Commonwealth, and employees of higher education participating in the Retirement System, who are not already participating in the program, will be automatically enrolled into the VSDP unless such persons provide written notice to VRS of their decision not to participate. In general, the opt-out period will run from October 1, 2001, through December 31, 2001, and VSDP coverage will be effective January 10, 2002. Employees of higher education commencing employment on or after October 1, 2001, who are employed in a faculty position performing teaching, research or administrative duties, have 30 days to opt out of the VSDP beginning with their first date of employment. Any person enrolled into the VSDP will have their sick leave balances converted to disability credits at the rate of one hour of disability credit for each hour of sick leave. The bill only applies to employees who currently are not participating in the VSDP; the bill does not affect employees who previously elected to enroll in the VSDP or who were enrolled by effect of law. The bill also authorizes VRS to provide a long-term care insurance program for members of the VSDP. The bill also authorizes VRS to manage long-term care insurance programs that are currently managed by the Department of Human Resource Management. VRS may purchase group insurance policies to provide long-term care benefits or may self-insure long-term care benefits. State agencies are required to fund the costs of long-term care insurance from such funds as are appropriated to such agencies by the General Assembly.
Patron - Trumbo

F SB1015

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, 2002.
Patron - Williams

F SB1020

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds as members in VaLORS probation officers of the Department of Juvenile Justice and security or investigative officers of the State Lottery Department.
Patron - Newman

F SB1093

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of service credit. Allows a member to purchase up to one year of retirement service credit for any unpaid leave of absence due to a serious illness or disability of the member's spouse, mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister, aunt, uncle or cousin by blood, marriage or adoption. The Retirement System may request a medical certification confirming the illness or disability as a condition of the member purchasing service credit under this option.
Patron - Mims

F SB1248

Virginia Retirement System; retirees hired as teachers and administrative personnel of local school boards. Provides that certain persons who have retired under the Virginia Retirement System may be hired by local school boards as teachers and administrative personnel with no interruption in their retirement benefits. This bill applies to licensed instructional and administrative personnel who (i) have been retired for at least one year from employment with a Virginia local school board before returning as full-time licensed instructional or administrative personnel; (ii) are licensed by the Board of Education to work in such position as they are hired into; and (iii) are hired on an annual contract basis and ineligible for continuing contract status. This bill has been incorporated into SB 954.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB1231

State Police Officers' Retirement System. Modifies the retirement allowance paid under the State Police Officers' Retirement System ("SPORS") by increasing from 1.7 percent to 2.5 percent the percentage of average final compensation multiplied by the years of creditable service in a SPORS-covered or similar position, and by deleting the supplemental allowance currently paid to members upon retirement until age 65 (currently $9,264 annually). The bill applies to employees who become members of SPORS on or after July 1, 2001, and to current employees who elect to accept the modifications by October 31, 2001.
Patron - Stolle

F SB1253

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 shall be at least $800.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB1282

Retirement; health insurance credits. Increases the monthly health insurance credits provided to retired local social service employees from one and one-half dollars for each year of creditable service to two and one-half dollars, which is the same amount paid to teachers.
Patron - Ruff

F SB1283

F SB1284

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; additional retirement allowance. Provides that the additional retirement allowance payable until the age of 65 to a retiree under the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System ("VaLORS"), be paid pro rata according to the member's years of service in a hazardous duty position. Eligibility begins when a member has served at least five years in such a position. Under current law, such benefit is not paid on a pro rata basis and eligibility requires a minimum of 20 years of service.
Patron - Ruff

F SB1360

Police Retirement System; Fairfax County. Provides that any county ordinances amending the police retirement system of the county shall be limited to changing the benefits conferred on or contributions relating to members of the retirement system. Upon request of the retirement board for the police retirement system, the county shall amend the police retirement plan to comply with federal or state law. The bill also provides that the retirement board shall consist of seven members: the Director of Finance of Fairfax County, two members who are sworn officers of the county police department, one member who is a retired sworn officer of the county police department, and three members appointed by the governing body of Fairfax County. All other members shall serve terms of four years.
Patron - Saslaw

F SB1361

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Includes in the membership of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System any person who served as a parole officer with the Commonwealth prior to October 1, 1999, and any employee of the Department of Corrections whose normal duties require him regularly to be in the presence of parolees.
Patron - Reynolds

CONTENTS | < PREVIOUS | NEXT > | BILL INDEX

2001 SUMMARY HOME | DLS | GENERAL ASSEMBLY