A. There is created in the state treasury the "workers' compensation retention fund".

B. Money deposited in, earned by or appropriated to the workers' compensation retention fund may be used by the director to:

(1) purchase workers' compensation insurance;

(2) establish appropriate reserves to provide workers' compensation coverage for employees of state agencies or employees of covered educational entities;

(3) pay workers' compensation claims in accordance with the Workers' Compensation Act [Chapter 52, Article 1 NMSA 1978];

(4) enter into consulting and other contracts as may be necessary or desirable in carrying out the provisions of this section; and

(5) pay costs or expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this section.

C. For the purposes of this section, "covered educational entities" means school districts as defined in Section 22-1-2 NMSA 1978 and educational institutions established pursuant to Chapter 21, Articles 13, 16 and 17 [repealed] NMSA 1978 that request and are granted coverage from the risk management division of the general services department, if the coverage is commercially unavailable; except that coverage shall be provided to a school district only through the public school insurance authority or its successor unless the district has been granted a waiver by the authority or the authority is not offering the coverage for the fiscal year for which the division offers its coverage. A local school district to which the division may provide coverage may provide for marketing and servicing to be done by licensed insurance agents who shall receive reasonable compensation for their services.

History: 1953 Comp., § 5-14-25, enacted by Laws 1977, ch. 385, § 9; 1978, ch. 166, § 11; 1983, ch. 301, § 66; 1986, ch. 102, § 7; 1989, ch. 324, § 10; 1996 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, § 4; 2000, ch. 27, § 3.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and it is not part of the law. Article 17 of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 was repealed by Laws 1995, ch. 224, § 29 and Laws 1999, ch. 219, § 21. See notes following Chapter 21, Article 17 NMSA 1978.

The 2000 amendment, effective March 6, 2000, added Subsection B(2) and redesignated the remaining paragraphs in Subsection B accordingly, and deleted Subsection D, concerning excess cash balances in the workers' compensation retention fund.

The 1996 amendment, effective March 21, 1996, in Subsection B, inserted "earned by" in the introductory paragraph, deleted former Paragraph (2), which provided that the director may establish appropriate reserves to provide workers' compensation coverage for employees of state agencies or employees of covered educational entities, and redesignated the remaining paragraphs; in the first sentence of Subsection C, substituted "that request" for "which request" near the beginning and deleted "group" preceding "insurance authority"; and added Subsection D.