General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2005>Pensions, Benefits and Retirement

CONTENTS | < PREVIOUS | NEXT > | BILL INDEX

Pensions, Benefits and Retirement

Passed

P HB1651

Optional life, accidental death, and dismemberment insurance. Increases from $500,000 to $600,000 the amount of optional life, accidental death, and dismemberment insurance that employees may purchase. The bill also eliminates the requirement for a review of such maximum amount once every two years and provides for a review period of at least once every five calendar years.
Patron - Tata

P HB1652

Law Enforcement Officers' Retirement System and State Police Officers' Retirement System; retirement options. Eliminates the retirement option of 50 years of age with 10 years of service. The bill also makes technical changes.
Patron - Tata

P HB1653

Virginia Retirement System; life insurance. Clarifies that an employee with 20 years creditable service with a retirement plan administered by the VRS or any other public plan participating in the group life insurance program will have life insurance based on two times his highest annual salary earned during such employment.
Patron - Tata

P HB1787

Teacher's retirement allowance. Extends from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2007, the sunset date for provisions allowing retirees to be hired as teachers or administrative personnel without interruption of their retirement benefits. Requires the Virginia Retirement System to determine the actuarial cost of the allowance and report its findings prior to the 2007 Session of the General Assembly.
Patron - BaCote

P HB1831

Mandatory retirement for judges. Provides that any judge of the State Corporation Commission who is (i) 70 years old and to be retired before the end of his elected term under otherwise mandatory retirement laws and (ii) to be retired during a session of the General Assembly in which the General Assembly is required to elect another judge or judges of the State Corporation Commission shall be retired upon the first to occur of (a) the expiration of the term to which he was elected or (b) 20 days after the commencement of the regular session of the General Assembly that immediately follows the date the judge turns 72 years old. Under current law, all judges who turn 70 shall be retired 20 days after the convening of the next regular session of the General Assembly.
Patron - Parrish

P HB1920

Purchase of prior service for retirement. Provides that in a case where an employee is purchasing prior service credit at a cost of 5 percent of current compensation or average final compensation, whichever is greater, if the employee uses pre-tax or post-tax deductions to purchase the service, then the cost of the service shall be 5 percent of current compensation even if this is less than 5 percent of average final compensation. The bill provides that certain creditable service for which employee and employer contributions have not been made to the Virginia Retirement System because of payroll error shall be purchased by the employer at an actuarial equivalent cost. The bill clarifies that active duty military service that can be purchased for retirement credit is full-time service of at least 180 consecutive days.
Patron - Cox

P HB1925

Health insurance credit; persons with creditable service as constitutional officers or employees of local social services boards. Provides that a person with 15 or more years of total creditable service as a constitutional officer or an employee of a local social services board who becomes employed by a local government that does not elect to provide the health insurance credit, shall be eligible for the health insurance credit made available to persons retiring as local constitutional officers or employees of local social services boards. This bill incorporates HB 1991.
Patron - Tata

P HB1926

Employee benefits; long-term disability. Clarifies that state employees participating in defined contribution plans and receiving long-term disability shall receive the maximum health insurance credit. Currently, the maximum monthly credit provided to state employees is $120 per month.
Patron - Tata

P HB1927

Virginia Retirement System; suspension of retirement payments when in covered position. Clarifies that retirement payments are suspended whenever the member is employed in a position covered by any of the retirement plans administered by the Virginia Retirement System.
Patron - Tata

P HB1928

Virginia Retirement System; administrative costs of defined contribution plans. Permits the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to include its administrative costs in setting the employer contribution rates for any defined contribution plan administered by VRS.
Patron - Tata

P HB1929

Federal social security. Requires that a local governing body's resolution requesting that its eligible employees become members of the Virginia Retirement System shall not be approved by the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System unless the locality has first entered into a plan of agreement to extend benefits under the Social Security Act to its employees. The bill also names the director of the Virginia Retirement System as the state social security administrator, and allows him, rather than the Board, to adopt rules and policies necessary for the administration of the Social Security Act. The state social security administrator may, with the approval of the Board, submit and agree to modifications to the agreement with the federal government concerning coverage, benefits, and administration of the Social Security Act. The state social security administrator will be tasked with carrying out all functions required of him by the Social Security Act, including but not limited to negotiating the inclusion of additional coverage groups, resolve coverage and taxation issues, and negotiate with the federal government to resolve social security contribution payment and reporting questions for wages paid before 1987. The bill also contains several definitional and technical changes.
Patron - Tata

P HB1930

Retirement benefits. Provides for a potentially greater retirement benefit when a member dies while in service and has named his spouse, minor child, or parent as a contingent annuitant under a joint and last-survivor optional retirement benefit.
Patron - Tata

P HB2489

Virginia Sickness and Disability Program; appeal of disability benefit determinations. Clarifies the authority of the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System to develop an appeals process as an alternative to the process set forth in the Administrative Process Act (APA), provided that the process: (i) provides for adequate notice in writing to any participant whose claim for benefits has been denied setting forth the specific reasons for such denial and (ii) affords a reasonable opportunity to any participant whose claim for benefits has been denied for a review of the decision denying the claim. The bill includes technical amendments.
Patron - Petersen

P HB2536

Long-term disability benefit. Clarifies that the waiting period for a long-term disability benefit and supplemental long-term disability benefit is 125 work days.
Patron - Ingram

P HB2746

Retirement. Provides that a local government that establishes a retirement system shall not be liable for any loss resulting from the governing body's selection of an individual retirement plan provider, or investment product in the case of an automatic rollover of a mandatory cash-out, when the selection of the provider or product is made in accordance with safe harbor guidelines adopted by the United States Department of Labor.
Patron - Ware, R.L.

P HB2765

Health insurance credits; general registrars. Adds retired general registrars and their retired employees who rendered at least 15 years of creditable service to the list of those who will receive a health insurance credit to their monthly retirement allowance under the Virginia Retirement System.
Patron - Dillard

P SB785

Virginia Retirement System; default payment option for retirement allowances. Provides that the retirement allowance shall be paid as a single life annuity in cases where the member, following reasonable notification, has not selected a payment option for his retirement allowance by the mandatory beginning date for payment of the allowance. A spousal acknowledgement of the payment option and the basic benefit shall not be required in these situations.
Patron - Stosch

P SB786

Virginia Retirement System; liability of Board of Trustees. Provides that, in the case of an automatic rollover of a mandatory cash-out pursuant to § 401 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Board of Trustees shall not be liable for any loss resulting from the Board's selection of an individual retirement plan provider and investment product where the selection is made in accordance with guidelines to be adopted by the Board that are similar to the safe harbor guidelines adopted by the United States Department of Labor for such purpose.
Patron - Stosch

P SB817

Teacher's retirement allowance. Extends the July 1, 2005, sunset date to July 1, 2007, for provisions allowing retirees to be hired as teachers or administrative personnel without interruption of their retirement benefits. This bill incorporates SB 762.
Patron - Williams

Failed

F HB1497

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. Provides that the supplemental allowance currently paid to certain members upon retirement until age 65 shall instead be paid until Social Security retirement age.
Patron - Wright

F HB1503

Health insurance credit for retired teachers. Increases the health insurance credit for retired teachers to $4 per month for each year of creditable service with no monthly cap. Under current law, retired teachers with 15 or more years of service are allowed a health insurance credit of $2.50 per month for each year of creditable service with a cap of $75 per month. This bill has been incorporated into HB 1523.
Patron - Shuler

F HB1521

Virginia Retirement System; benefits. Increases monthly retirement benefits of certain future retirees by increasing the percentage of average final compensation multiplied by the amount of creditable service from 1.7 to 2.0 for years of service in excess of 25 years for most state employees, and from 2.0 to 2.3 for certain state law-enforcement officers.
Patron - Callahan

F HB1523

Health insurance credits; teachers. Increases the monthly health insurance credit to retired teachers from $2.50 to $4.00 for each full year of the retired member's creditable service. The bill is applicable to current and future retirees and is not effective unless funding for such is included in the Budget Bill. This bill incorporates HB 1503.
Patron - Tata

F HB1626

Health insurance credits for retired state employees. Removes the monthly health insurance credit cap of $120 for retired state employees. The bill is not effective unless there is funding for such in the Budget Bill.
Patron - Putney

F HB1627

Health insurance credits for retired state employees. Increases the monthly health insurance credits provided to retired state employees from $4 per year of creditable service to $6 per year of creditable service, and removes the maximum monthly cap of $120. The bill is not effective unless there is funding for such in the Budget Bill. This bill incorporates HB 1866.
Patron - Putney

F HB1637

Retirement; state police officers and certain local law-enforcement officers. Modifies the retirement benefits of state police officers and certain local law-enforcement officers by (i) increasing from 1.7 percent to 2.7 percent the percentage of average final compensation multiplied by the years of creditable service in such positions, and by deleting the supplemental allowance currently paid to members upon retirement until their Social Security retirement age; (ii) deleting the minimum age requirement for retirement for members with 25 or more years of service; and (iii) providing that deputy sheriffs employed by political subdivisions participating in the Virginia Retirement System shall receive the same retirement benefits as sheriffs. This bill has been incorporated into HB 2660.
Patron - Callahan

F HB1645

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of retirement service credit. Allows a member in service to purchase prior service credit for service with Amtrak.
Patron - Orrock

F HB1673

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; membership. Adds probation and parole officers employed by the Department of Juvenile Justice to membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System.
Patron - Cosgrove

F HB1699

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VALORS). Adds juvenile probation and parole officers as members of VALORS.
Patron - Spruill

F HB1704

Virginia Retirement System; legal aid employees. Adds to the membership of the Virginia Retirement System all full-time employees of any legal aid office in the Commonwealth.
Patron - Kilgore

F HB1747

Virginia Retirement System; Virginia Local Sickness and Disability Program. Creates a new optional local sickness and disability program for local employees similar to the program that exists for state employees. The Program is optional at the election of each local employer, with all costs to be borne by the local employer. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2006, but a pilot program is authorized beginning July 1, 2005.
Patron - Tata

F HB1817

Virginia Retirement System; purchase of credit for prior part-time federal service. Permits members of the Virginia Retirement System to purchase credit for prior part-time federal service.
Patron - Suit

F HB1866

Health insurance credits for state and local retirees. Increases the monthly health insurance credits provided to local and state employees retiring with 25 or more years of creditable service to $7 per year of creditable service, not to exceed a maximum of $210 per month. These amounts, as well as the amount of the monthly credits under current law for employees retiring with less than 25 years of service, are indexed to the average annual increase in the premiums for the state retiree health benefits plans. The bill applies to state employees, local employees, teachers, constitutional officers and their employees, and local social service employees, whether they retired before or retire after the effective date of the bill, July 1, 2005. This bill has been incorporated into HB 1627.
Patron - Morgan

F HB1985

F HB1991

Virginia Retirement System; health insurance credits for certain employees. Provides that the Commonwealth shall provide health insurance credits for retirees who (i) rendered at least 15 years of total creditable service as a constitutional officer, as an employee of a constitutional officer, or as a local social service employee and (ii) after terminating such service, was employed by a local government that does not elect to provide a health insurance credit. This bill has been incorporated into HB 1925.
Patron - Griffith

F HB1996

Virginia Retirement System; benefits. Increases monthly retirement benefits of future retirees by increasing the percentage of average final compensation multiplied by the amount of creditable service according to the years of service as follows:

Years of Creditable Service

Percentage of Average
Final Compensation

Less than 25 25 or more but less than 30 30 or more but less than 35 35 or more but less than 40 40 or more
1.70 percent
1.80 percent
1.90 percent
2.0 percent
3.0 percent

Under current law the percentage multiplier is 1.70 percent regardless of years of service. The bill provides a higher percentage multiplier to certain members of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System who already have a multiplier of 2.0 percent under current law.
Patron - Griffith

F HB2083

Virginia Retirement System. Any teacher who is a member of the Virginia Retirement System and any such retired teacher may purchase up to four years of prior service credit for service in the public school system of Canada at the rate of five percent (i) of creditable compensation at the time of purchase or (ii) of average final compensation, whichever is greater.
Patron - Watts

F HB2183

Virginia Retirement System; participation by members of a city council. Includes members of a city council of a city participating in the Virginia Retirement System. The bill also allows a member of a city council to continue to receive a retirement allowance based on creditable service for a position other than as a member of city council.
Patron - Tata

F HB2396

Virginia Retirement System; membership credit. Provides membership service for employment as part-time, contract work at the Division of Motor Vehicles.
Patron - Phillips

F HB2481

Virginia Retirement System; pilot defined contribution plan. Establishes a pilot program to allow employees hired on or after July 1, 2005, at the University of Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and the College of William and Mary the option to participate in the Virginia Retirement System's defined contribution retirement plan.
Patron - May

F HB2594

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; deputy sheriffs. Makes deputy sheriffs members of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System under certain conditions, including the election of such by the respective sheriff. Funding for such membership shall be provided by the Compensation Board. This bill has been incorporated into HB 2660.
Patron - Weatherholtz

F HB2660

Retirement; state police officers and certain local law-enforcement officers. Modifies the retirement benefits of state police officers and certain local law-enforcement officers by (i) increasing from 1.7 percent to 2.7 percent the percentage of average final compensation multiplied by the years of creditable service in such positions, and by deleting the supplemental allowance currently paid to members upon retirement until their Social Security retirement age; (ii) deleting the minimum age requirement for retirement for members with 25 or more years of service; and (iii) providing that deputy sheriffs employed by political subdivisions participating in the Virginia Retirement System shall receive the same retirement benefits as sheriffs. This bill incorporates HB 1637 and HB 2594.
Patron - McDonnell

F HB2745

Disability benefits; certain local police departments. Provides that police departments in those localities that elected to establish their own local pension plans (instead of participating through the Virginia Retirement System) shall provide disability benefits to members of their police departments equivalent to the disability benefits provided under the Virginia Retirement System.
Patron - Bell

F SB696

F SB703

Health insurance credit for retired teachers. Increases the health insurance credit for retired teachers to $4 per month for each year of creditable service with no monthly cap. The bill also eliminates the authority for local governments to provide an additional health insurance credit for teachers. Under current law, retired teachers with 15 or more years of service are allowed a health insurance credit of $2.50 per month for each year of creditable service with a cap of $75 per month. Retired state employees with 15 or more years of service are allowed a health insurance credit of $4 per month for each year of creditable service with a cap of $120 per month.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB727

F SB754

Virginia Retirement System; creditable compensation of teachers. Provides that the creditable compensation of teachers for retirement purposes under the Virginia Retirement System shall include all compensation payable to teachers by their public school boards, including compensation that is not pursuant to a contract for teaching.
Patron - Wampler

F SB762

Teacher's retirement allowance. Extends from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2010, the sunset date for provisions allowing retirees to be hired as teachers or administrative personnel without interruption of their retirement benefits. This bill has been incorporated into SB 817.
Patron - Locke

F SB840

Virginia Law Enforcement Officers' Retirement System; definition of employee. Adds probation officers, supervisory probation officers, and directors of court services units to the Virginia Law Enforcement Officers' Retirement System.
Patron - Deeds

F SB881

Deputy sheriffs; retirement allowance. Provides that deputy sheriffs employed by political subdivisions participating in the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) shall receive the same retirement benefits as sheriffs. Under current law, any sheriff employed by a political subdivision participating in VRS shall receive retirement benefits equivalent to those provided under the State Police Officers' Retirement System (SPORS) for state police officers. This bill would provide that deputy sheriffs, whose political subdivision participates in VRS, also receive retirement benefits equivalent to those provided under SPORS.
Patron - Obenshain

F SB918

Law-Enforcement Officers Retirement System; emergency medical technicians. Adds full-time salaried emergency medical technicians to the list of those who may receive benefits equivalent to those provided under the State Police Officers' Retirement System.
Patron - Blevins

F SB1014

Health insurance credits; teachers and other local school board employees. Increases the monthly health insurance credit to retired teachers from $2.50 to $4.00 for each full year of the retired member's creditable service. The bill also eliminates an overall cap to the credit, and adds all retired full-time, salaried employees of local school boards as recipients to the credit. Under current law, only teachers and certain administrative personnel are included under the Code provision, while all other retired full-time, salaried employees of local school boards receive a credit in the amount of $1.50 for each full year of the retired member's creditable service under a different Code provision for local government employees. The bill is applicable to current and future retirees.
Patron - Hanger

F SB1043

Health insurance credit for state employees. Increases the health insurance credit for state employees to $6 per month for each year of creditable service. The monthly credit, however, shall not exceed $180 per month. Under current law, retired state employees with 15 or more years of service are allowed a health insurance credit of $4 per month for each year of creditable service with a cap of $120 per month.
Patron - Martin

F SB1073

Virginia Retirement System; defined contribution plan. Creates a defined contribution plan as an alternative to current defined benefit retirement plans. In general, all employees in any position covered by any retirement plan administered by the Virginia Retirement System are eligible to elect a defined contribution plan in lieu of one of the current defined benefit retirement plans. The employee has 90 days to make an irrevocable election to participate in the defined contribution plan or the defined benefit retirement plan for which he is otherwise eligible. The bill does not amend any of the provisions of deferred compensation plans currently made available to employees.
Patron - Cuccinelli

F SB1117

Public institutions of higher education. Provides that certain permanent part-time employees of public institutions of higher education or teaching hospitals affiliated with a public institution of higher education engaged in teaching, administrative, or research duties shall participate in the Virginia Retirement System or in an alternative retirement plan established by the institution. The bill also provides that creditable compensation for employees of a public institution of higher education or a teaching hospital affiliated with the institution shall be the full compensation payable over the term of any contract without regard to whether or not the term of the contract coincides with the normal scholastic year.
Patron - Norment

F SB1152

Retirement; deputy sheriffs. Makes deputy sheriffs members of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VALORs) by election of the county or city for whom the deputy sheriffs serve. The bill also provides that those deputy sheriffs in counties or cities providing Law Enforcement Officers' Retirement System (LEOs) retirement benefits to deputy sheriffs as of June 30, 2005, shall also participate in VALORs; however, any deputy sheriff in service on June 30, 2005, in such county or city may elect to continue retirement coverage under LEOs. Deputy sheriffs participating in VALORs shall receive a 2.0 average final compensation retirement multiplier but shall not receive any annual supplement. For any county or city that provided LEOs benefits to deputy sheriffs as of June 30, 2005, and for any county or city that on or after July 1, 2005, elects for its deputy sheriffs to participate in VALORs, the Compensation Board shall fund or reimburse such county or city one-half of its total retirement costs for state-responsible deputy sheriffs (to include any state-responsible deputy sheriff in service on June 30, 2005, who has elected to continue retirement coverage under LEOs). Total retirement costs are defined as the retirement contributions required for deputy sheriffs whose positions are funded by the Compensation Board. Such costs shall be computed using the salaries of such deputy sheriffs as fixed by the Board. Total retirement costs shall not include the costs of member contributions for retirement, without regard to whether the member contributions are paid by the county or city or by the deputy sheriff.
Patron - Stolle

F SB1221

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VALORS). Adds juvenile probation and parole officers as members of VALORS.
Patron - Colgan

F SB1299

Virginia Retirement System; average final compensation retirement multiplier for teachers. Increases from 1.7 to 2.0 the average final compensation retirement multiplier for teachers with 25 or more years of creditable service earned as a teacher. The bill applies to teachers first retiring on or after July 1, 2005.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB1340

Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; hazardous materials response specialist officers. Adds hazardous materials response specialist officers employed by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to membership in the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VALORS).
Patron - Puckett

CONTENTS | < PREVIOUS | NEXT > | BILL INDEX

General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2005>Pensions, Benefits and Retirement

E-mail Webmaster