TDC PARTICIPANTS NEED TO CONTACT GOVERNOR MANCHIN
The WVEA is in discussions with the Governor's office regarding the retirement issue. His office needs to hear from all employees that are currently in the Defined Contribution Plan ("new" system.) and interested in moving back into the Teacher's Defined Benefit plan (the "old" system).
We have legislation that would allow a one time choice of retirement system and the governor's support would be beneficial. We need to flood his office with emails and phone calls urging him to support the legislation.
This legislation would create a one-time window in which all TDC participants will be able to choose which retirement system they participate in. Any employee who is happy in the Defined Contribution Plan would be able to stay in that plan.
Governor's office - 304-558-2000
Email: Governor@wvgov.org
Your calls and emails are vital in getting this legislation passed.
1/10/08 - Court votes not to hear TDC appeal click here
Anthony J. Barbario, et al. v. WV Consolidated Public Retirement Board - 072224 - The West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board petitions for appeal from the Circuit Court of Kanawha County's Final Order finding that the Teachers' Retirement Equity Act is violative of the Takings Clause of the West Virginia Constitution and the Contracts Clause of the United States and West Virginia Constitutions. - Refuse 3 - 2, Starcher & Albright.
The West Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of the lawsuit blocking the TDC/TRS merger. Their action allows the Retirement Board the opportunity to present why the case should be heard by the justices. The hearing has been scheduled for January 8, 2008.
Before the case can actually be argued before the justices, the Court must first vote on whether to allow the appeal to be considered. If they vote to hear the case then a hearing will be scheduled for a later date. A decision on the merits of the case would not be available until the summer.
WVEA continues to advocate for legislation to create a one-time window in which all TDC participants will be able to choose which retirement system they participate in. This will be one of the WVEA's top priorities in the upcoming legislative session.
WVEA will keep you up to date on any activity regarding the lawsuit.
Link to recent articles regarding TDC participants and the health of their retirement plans.
Links to the past news of the TRS/TDC merger
November 13, 2007
Justices to hear teacher pension case
by Phil Kabler
Staff writer , Charleston Gazette
The state Supreme Court will hear arguments Jan. 8 on whether to accept an appeal of a ruling that blocked the merger of about 22,000 teachers and school service personnel into the Teachers’ Retirement System.
“They’ve decided we’ll get to make oral arguments on our motion,” said Anne Lambright, Consolidated Public Retirement Board executive director.
However, she said the timetable falls too late to benefit more than 1,000 participants in another teacher pension plan, called the Teachers’ Defined Contribution plan. Those employees will reach retirement age by June, but do not have enough assets in their pension accounts to afford to retire.
After the Jan. 8 hearing, justices will decide whether to hear the state’s appeal of a January 2007 Kanawha Circuit Court ruling that said the planned merger of participants in the 401(k)-style TDC plan into the Teachers’ Retirement System is unconstitutional.
Attorneys representing about 1,000 TDC participants argued that the 2005 law, which would “sweep” their retirement accounts to help fund their merger into the defined benefits TRS plan, amounted to an illegal taking of their assets.
The legislation was drafted at the request of lobbyists for the state teachers’ associations, after it became evident that the vast majority of participants in the 16-year-old TDC plan had woefully underfunded accounts, and could not afford to retire.
The motion docket arguments will come nearly eight months after the Consolidated Public Retirement Board appealed the circuit court ruling blocking the merger.
Lambright said that even if the court agrees to help the appeal and overturns the lower court ruling, it would take about six months to complete the merger — too late to accommodate TDC participants who hoped to retire in June.
In appealing the circuit court ruling, the CPRB argued that the more than $750 million in assets in the TDC accounts are the property of the state until the participants actually retire.
In a brief filed in June, attorney Jim Lees argued that the only way the Supreme Court could accept the retirement board’s appeal is if it concludes “that West Virginia has adopted socialism as part of its retirement system.”
In a related matter, effective today, the retirement board is headquartered in new offices at 4101 MacCorkle Ave. S.E. in Kanawha City.
Besides consolidating all CPRB offices in one location, the new location will be more user-friendly, Lambright said, with onsite parking that includes 12 handicapped parking spaces.
Previously, visitors to the old retirement board offices in the Capitol Complex’s Building 5 office tower had to walk a considerable distance from the closest visitor parking spaces on the Capitol grounds.
October 16, 2007
Pension merger case to be heard
By Phil Kabler
Staff writer, Charleston Gazette
Lawyers for the state retirement board will get the opportunity to argue that the state Supreme Court should hear their appeal of a lawsuit that blocked the merger of the state’s two teachers’ pension funds, the board’s executive director said Monday.
“I’m pleased they’re at least going to give us the opportunity to argue why our case should be let in,” said Anne Lambright, executive director of the Consolidated Public Retirement Board.
The board filed an appeal in May, challenging a Kanawha Circuit Court ruling blocking the merger of about 20,000 participants in the 401(k)-style Teachers’ Defined Contribution plan into the Teachers’ Retirement System, a defined benefits plan.
The lower court agreed with about 1,000 TDC participants who sued to block the merger, who contend that sweeping more than $750 million of assets from their accounts amounts to an illegal taking by the state.
Lambright said retirement board attorneys were notified Monday that the court had agreed to put the case on a future motions docket, to hear arguments for and against why the court should hear the appeal.
“On an optimism scale, it’s not any different than where we were before,” Lambright said. “It’s just one step in the process.”
Jennifer Bundy, Supreme Court spokeswoman, said a hearing date had not been set as of Monday.
She said there are three more motion dockets remaining in the fall term of the court, on Oct. 23 and 24 and Nov. 6, but said there is no guarantee the arguments will be heard before the court adjourns on Nov. 21.
The court will reconvene the second week of January 2008. If the court agrees to consider the appeal, it would be sometime next year before the case would be heard.
Lambright said that even a best-case scenario would not help the more than 1,000 teachers and school service personnel who have reached retirement age, but do not have enough funds in their TDC accounts to afford to retire.
She said that, even if the court would uphold the merger of the pension funds, it would take at least six months to complete the merger — ruling out any June 2008 retirements for TDC participants.
“Even looking at the most optimistic, that the court says, ‘Yes, you’re right,’ I can’t imagine they could do it in time for us to be ready by July 1, 2008,” she said.
September 13, 2007
Teachers retirement case still in limbo
By Phil Kabler
Staff writer Charleston Gazette
Prospects for quick action by the state Supreme Court on a ruling blocking the merger of the state’s two pension plans for teachers are dimming — along with retirement plans for hundreds of teachers and service personnel.
The fall term of the court is under way, but Consolidated Public Retirement Board executive director Anne Lambright said there has been no word from the court about when, or if, the court will hear the appeal.
As of Wednesday evening, the case did not appear on the court’s motion dockets for September or October.
“The court can take as long as they want to decide if they want to take this appeal,” Lambright said Wednesday.
Any delay leaves about 1,000 participants in the 401(k)-style Teachers Defined Contribution plan in limbo. They are at retirement age, but don’t have enough money in their accounts to retire.
Heeding concerns that none of the nearly 20,000 participants in the 16-year-old TDC plan had sufficient retirement accounts, the Legislature in 2005 set up a plan to allow those participants to merge back into the larger Teachers Retirement System, a defined benefits plan.
However, about 1,000 TDC participants sued, contending that it would be illegal for the state to “sweep” about $750 million out of the personal accounts to help fund the merger into the severely underfunded TRS plan.
In asking the court to refuse to hear the retirement board’s motion for appeal, their attorney, Charleston lawyer Jim Lees, argued that allowing the state to raid the individual accounts would be tantamount to socialism. Lees was out of town Wednesday and unavailable for comment.
Even if the court decides to hear the case, Lambright said the retirement board faces a tight deadline for those TDC participants who hoped to retire in June 2008.
She said that if the court were to hear the case and uphold the merger of the two plans, the ruling would have to come by December because it would take about six months to complete the merger of the two retirement programs. Lambright, who is a lawyer, conceded that would be an extremely tight timetable.
She noted that a legislative interim committee is studying other options for bailing out TDC participants. However, she said some of the less costly options would benefit younger employees, but would do little to help those who are close to retirement age.
Options that would bail out retirement-age TDC participants would cost taxpayers more than $200 million, according to estimates.