A. There is created the "public school insurance fund". All income earned on the fund shall be credited to the fund. The fund is appropriated to the authority to carry out the provisions of the Public School Insurance Authority Act. Any money remaining in the fund at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.

B. The board shall determine which money in the fund constitutes the long-term reserves of the authority. The state investment officer shall invest the long-term reserves of the authority in accordance with the provisions of Sections 6-8-1 through 6-8-16 NMSA 1978. The state treasurer shall invest the money in the fund that does not constitute the long-term reserves of the fund in accordance with the applicable provisions of Chapter 6, Article 10 NMSA 1978.

C. All appropriations shall be subject to budget review through the department of education [public education department], the state budget division of the department of finance and administration and the legislative finance committee.

D. The authority shall provide that premiums are collected from school districts and charter schools participating in the authority sufficient to provide the required insurance coverage and to pay the expenses of the authority. All premiums shall be credited to the fund.

E. Any reserves remaining at the termination of an insurance contract shall be disbursed to the individual school districts, charter schools and other participating entities on a pro rata basis.

F. Disbursements from the fund for purposes other than procuring and paying for insurance or insurance-related services, including but not limited to third-party administration, premiums, claims and cost containment activities, shall be made only upon warrant drawn by the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the director or his designee; provided that the chairman of the board may sign vouchers if the position of director is vacant.

History: 1978 Comp., § 22-2-6.6, enacted by Laws 1986, ch. 94, § 6; 1989, ch. 373, § 2; 1991, ch. 142, § 3; 1999, ch. 281, § 18; 1978 Comp., § 22-2-6.6, recompiled as § 22-29-6, by Laws 2003, ch. 153, § 72.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.

Laws 2004, ch. 25, § 27, provided that all references to the superintendent of public instruction shall be deemed references to the secretary of public education and all references to the former state board of education or state department of education shall be deemed references to the public education department. See 9-24-15 NMSA 1978.

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, substituted "Any money remaining in the fund" for "Any funds remaining" in the last sentence of Subsection A, deleted "of funds" following "All appropriations" in Subsection C, and added the references to charter schools in Subsections D and E.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, deleted "deposited in a segregated account and invested in securities eligible for investment by the educational retirement board pursuant to Section 22-11-13 NMSA 1978" at the end of the first sentence in Subsection A; added Subsections B and F; and redesignated former Subsections B to D as Subsections C to E.

The 1989 amendment, effective June 16, 1989, in Subsection B substituted "department of education" for "office of education" and "state budget division" for "budget division"; in Subsection C substituted "fund" for "public school insurance fund" in the second sentence; and substituted all of the present language of Subsection D beginning with "school" for "districts on a pro rata basis".

"Budget review" as used in Subsection B (now Subsection C) means approval of the public school insurance authority's proposed budget. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 90-23.