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:

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(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 [N.M. Stat. Ann. Chapter 52, Article 1];

(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 N.M. Stat. Ann. and educational institutions established pursuant to Chapter 21, Articles 13, 16 and 17 [repealed] NMSA 1978 that request and are granted coverage from the risk management division of the general services department, if the coverage is commercially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.