Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVTomblin signs WV retiree benefits funding bill

The state's last remaining debt issue now is history.

Not only is there a plan for the debt to be wiped out, but West Virginia is about to become the first state in the nation to address its Other Post Employment Benefits liability.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a bill that outlines how to fund the West Virginia Retiree Health Benefit Trust Fund Monday afternoon.

The measure completed the legislative process Feb. 10. It was first introduced on Tomblin's behalf, and the Senate passed it quickly, after suspending the constitutional rules that a bill be read on three separate days before it's passed.

The House debated it heavily and passed it Feb. 9.

The measure dedicates $30 million each year to the West Virginia Retiree Health Benefit Trust Fund and an additional $5 million yearly to a separate trust fund for public workers hired after July 1, 2010. The annual transfers would pay down the $5 billion debt by 2036.

"As a former school teacher, I personally know what this will mean for our teachers, but more importantly, what it will mean for the students in the Mountain State," Tomblin said Monday before signing the bill. "Relieving county boards of this liability means that Morgantown High School teacher Sam Brunette will now have funds to outfit his award-winning graphics art class with computers, in pursuit of 21st Century skills; it means that Kanawha County librarian Gina Miller will now be able to continue to open the world to the students at Malden Elementary with all-day library services; it also means that the students in Marlinton Middle School will have access to portable computer labs while in Christine Campbell's language arts class."

One legislator compared the debt payments to a person making mortgage payments to someone else. And any county that had been saving money to put toward their retirement debt will be able to use that money for other things the county needs, such as teacher salaries.

Sen. Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha, said the state has used some "tough love" to get through hard budgeting years and to reconcile financial sins of the past.

"We are now confident in saying that we will be able to afford the health care benefits that our employees will have," McCabe said after the measure was signed. "For new employees coming in line, we've put in a new trust fund to assist them in helping those employees at some future date with their health care costs."

An audit will be conducted this year to determine each county's liability.