SB 1074 West Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Allowing newly hired emergency medical vehicle operators to participate in EMS Retirement System

SB 1074 allows newly hired emergency medical vehicle operators in West Virginia to join the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System. The bill amends state law to include these new employees as eligible members of the retirement system, expanding coverage beyond current participants. This change directly affects new hires in emergency medical services who were previously excluded from the system. The legislation modifies eligibility definitions in the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System Act without altering existing contribution rates or benefit calculations. It does not impact current system members or require additional state funding.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 23, 2026 Last action Mar 5, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

The Committee Substitute expands eligibility for the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System to include emergency medical services officers and emergency medical vehicle operators, in addition to 911 personnel and home confinement officers. It removes the requirement that home confinement officers must be certified to participate, while retaining the certification requirement for emergency medical vehicle operators. The bill also updates the definition of 'covered employment' to explicitly include emergency medical vehicle operators hired after July 1, 2026.

Scope change

The bill's scope broadened to include two new categories of employees (EMS officers and EMS vehicle operators) who were previously excluded from the retirement system.

ELIGIBILITY

Added 'emergency medical services officers' and 'emergency medical vehicle operators' to the list of eligible employees for the retirement system.

Added 'emergency medical services officers' and 'emergency medical vehicle operators' to the list of personnel eligible for asset transfers under the retirement system.

Added 'emergency medical services officers' and 'emergency medical vehicle operators' to the list of personnel eligible for concurrent employment provisions.

REQUIREMENT

Removed the mandatory certification requirement for home confinement officers to participate in the retirement system.

DEFINITION

Updated the definition of 'covered employment' to explicitly include full-time emergency medical vehicle operators hired after July 1, 2026.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 4, 2026

How they voted

32–0

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 33

Mar 4, 2026

D Democratic2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican31

30 Yea 1

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 5, 2026

Committee

To House Finance

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Committee

To Finance

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (Roll No. 354)

upper

Mar 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee substitute reported

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Committee

To Finance

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported do pass, but first to Finance

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor