SB 978 West Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Authorizing certain municipalities to become members of Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System

SB 978 allows West Virginia municipalities currently using the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System (EMSR) for police and firefighters to join the Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System (MPFRS). It specifically enables municipalities to include only police and firefighters hired on or after July 1, 2015, in the MPFRS, while those hired before that date remain in the EMSR. Municipalities must elect to join by July 1, 2027, and must notify eligible employees within 30 days, giving them 90 days to choose to switch to the MPFRS. The bill requires the Consolidated Public Retirement Board to transfer assets and service credit from the EMSR to the MPFRS for employees who switch.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 17, 2026 Last action Mar 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was rewritten from a draft version to a committee substitute, changing the target retirement system from the 'Emergency Medical Services Retirement System' to the 'Public Employees Retirement System' and adding a new requirement for employees to make a 4% makeup contribution. This significantly alters the financial obligations for municipalities and employees transferring to the new police and firefighter retirement plan.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from affecting the Emergency Medical Services Retirement System to affecting the Public Employees Retirement System, changing which employees are eligible to transfer and which funds are involved.

ELIGIBILITY

The specific retirement system targeted for transfer changed from the 'Emergency Medical Services Retirement System' to the 'Public Employees Retirement System'.

FISCAL

A new requirement was added for transferring employees to pay a 4% makeup contribution to the new plan.

REQUIREMENT

Detailed formulas and procedures were added to calculate the exact amount of assets to be transferred based on funded percentages.

ENFORCEMENT

Consequences were added for employees who fail to pay the required 4% contribution, including the reversal of the transfer.

DEFINITION

The title and section text were updated to reflect the change from the Emergency Medical Services system to the Public Employees system.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 26, 2026

How they voted

33–0

Passed

Total votes 33

Feb 26, 2026

D Democratic2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican31

31 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 2, 2026

Committee

To Finance

lower

Feb 27, 2026

Committee

To House Finance

lower

Feb 27, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (Roll No. 244)

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported do pass

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Committee

To Finance

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Committee

Committee substitute reported, but first to Finance

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors