West Virginia House Bill HB4513

West Virginia 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/19/26
• Refer: 1/19/26

Caption

Authorizing adjustment from federal adjusted gross income for certain law enforcement pension benefit payments

Summary

HB4513 would expand West Virginia’s income tax subtraction for certain retirement benefits by making pension income received by additional public-safety retirees exempt from state income tax. The bill amends the personal income tax code to add Division of Natural Resources police officers, deputy sheriffs, full-time firefighters, and municipal police officers to the class of law-enforcement officers whose pension benefits are excluded from West Virginia adjusted gross income. It also updates the natural resources police statute to reflect that this exemption applies to pensions paid through the Public Employees Retirement System for those officers. In practical terms, the bill would reduce taxable income for affected retirees and align their treatment more closely with other public-safety retirement systems already receiving favorable tax treatment. The measure is framed as a pension tax exemption rather than a broad tax cut, and it applies only to qualifying retirement income, including survivorship annuities derived from those programs. The bill also contains conforming language in the natural resources code to ensure the exemption is recognized for Division of Natural Resources police pensions.

Impact

The bill would amend §11-21-12 of the West Virginia Code to expand the list of retirement income subtractions from federal adjusted gross income, thereby lowering state income tax liability for eligible retirees. It would also amend §20-7-1 to state that the pension exemption applies to natural resources police pensions paid through the Public Employees Retirement System. The affected parties are retired Division of Natural Resources police officers, deputy sheriffs, full-time firefighters, municipal police officers, and their surviving beneficiaries, while the state would forgo some income tax revenue from those pension payments.

Sentiment

The available context suggests generally favorable treatment of the bill’s purpose, as the caption and note describe it as a targeted pension tax exemption for public-safety retirees. No committee transcript or vote record is provided, so there is no documented opposition or amendment debate in the supplied materials. Based on the bill text, the measure appears to be presented as a benefit for law-enforcement and first-responder retirees rather than a controversial structural tax change.

Contention

The main policy issue is the scope of the exemption: the bill extends tax relief beyond natural resources police to include deputy sheriffs, full-time firefighters, and municipal police officers, which may raise questions about revenue loss and whether the same treatment should be extended to other public employees or retirees. Another possible point of contention is the interaction with existing retirement-income exclusions and whether the bill creates additional preferential treatment for selected public-safety occupations. No specific objections, supporters, or negotiated compromises are included in the provided discussion materials.