Legislation requested by Gov. Bob Wise was enacted Saturday to stop the conversion by new employees hired after July 1, except for a two-year window given to employees who are laid off and return to work. But until the Legislature resolves Wise's video poker machine bill, Tomblin said the PEIA-salary increase issue is kind of at a stalemate. The video poker bill is the source for all the new money needed to give teachers, school service personnel, and state employees pay raises. Tomblin said talks have been held with the West Virginia Education Association and the American Teachers Federation. WVEA is the largest teachers' organization in West Virginia.
Salaries are also critical.
The cutoff for increment pay is 20 years. The average retirement age for teachers is 58 years and six months. Most state employees, on the other hand, retire at age 55 with at least 25 years of service. An extension of teachers' increment pay to 35 years has been suggested as a way to keep them from retiring. Retirees pay 30 percent of their cost.