(1) The Colorado uninsured employer fund is hereby created in the state treasury. A board of directors established under section 8-67106 shall administer the fund under a plan of operation established under section 8-67-108.
(2) (a) The money collected for the fund pursuant to articles 40 to 47 of this title 8 shall be transmitted to the state treasurer, who shall credit the money to the fund. The money credited to the fund and all interest earned thereon are hereby continuously appropriated for the payment of the direct costs of administering the program, including benefits paid pursuant to this article 67 and payments to third parties retained pursuant to this article 67.
The internal staffing costs, not including payments to third parties contracted by theboard, associated with uninsured employer programs shall be paid out of the workers' compensation cash fund in accordance with appropriations made pursuant to section 8-44-112 (7).
The fund consists of:
Civil penalties, fines, and other revenue collected by the division and specificallyallocated to the fund pursuant to articles 40 to 47 of this title 8;
Any public or private gifts, grants, or donations to the fund received by the department;
Any appropriations made to the fund; and
Earned interest, which the state treasurer shall deposit in the fund.
The department may use revenues in the fund for benefits to be paid out of the fundpursuant to this article 67 as well as administrative costs of the board.
The money in the fund:
Shall remain in the fund and not be credited or transferred to the general fund at theend of any fiscal year;
Is exempt from section 24-75-402; and
Is not subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly.
(3) No later than June 1, 2022, the state auditor shall conduct or cause to be conducted a performance audit of the Colorado uninsured employer fund.
Source: L. 2017: Entire article added, (HB 17-1119), ch. 317, p. 1698, § 1, effective July 1.