2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 22 - Public Schools
Article 29 - Public School Insurance Authority
Section 22-29-7 - Authority; duties.

In order to effectuate the purposes of the Public School Insurance Authority Act, the authority has the power to:

A. enter into professional services and consulting contracts or agreements as necessary;

B. collect money and provide for the investment of the fund;

C. collect all current and historical claims and financial information necessary for effective procurement of lines of insurance coverage;

D. promulgate necessary rules, regulations and procedures for implementation of the Public School Insurance Authority Act;

E. by rule, establish a policy to be followed by participating members relating to the use of volunteers. The policy shall be distributed to participating members and posted upon the authority's web site;

F. by rule, establish a policy to be followed by participating members relating to the use of school facilities by private persons; provided that the policy shall relate only to liability and risk issues and shall not affect the rights and responsibilities of local school boards to determine how, when and by whom school district facilities are used. The policy shall be distributed to participating members and posted upon the authority's web site;

G. provide public liability coverage for health care liability of health care student interns currently enrolled in health care instructional programs provided by any member;

H. insure, by negotiated policy, self-insurance or any combination thereof, participating members against claims of bodily injury, personal injury or property damage related to the use of school facilities by private persons; provided that the coverage shall be subject to the following conditions:

(1) no more than one million dollars ($1,000,000) shall be paid for each occurrence; and

(2) the coverage shall only apply if the participating member was following the policy adopted by the authority pursuant to Subsection F of this section;

I. negotiate new insurance policies covering additional or lesser benefits as determined appropriate by the authority, but the authority shall maintain all coverage levels required by federal and state law for each participating member. In the event it is practical to self-insure wholly a particular line of coverage, the authority may do so;

J. procure lines of insurance coverage in compliance with the provisions of the Health Care Purchasing Act [Chapter 13, Article 7 NMSA 1978] and the competitive sealed proposal process of the Procurement Code [13-1-28 to 13-1-199 NMSA 1978]; provided that any group medical insurance plan offered pursuant to this section shall include effective cost-containment measures to control the growth of health care costs. The board shall report annually by September 1 to appropriate interim legislative committees on the effectiveness of the cost-containment measures required by this subsection; and

K. purchase, renovate, equip and furnish a building for the board.

History: 1978 Comp., § 22-2-6.7, enacted by Laws 1986, ch. 94, § 7; 1989, ch. 373, § 3; 1990, ch. 6, § 21; 1991, ch. 142, § 4; 1994, ch. 62, § 21; 1997, ch. 74, § 7; recompiled as § 22-29-7 by Laws 2003, ch. 153, § 72; 2003, ch. 273, § 22; 2009, ch. 198, § 1; 2011, ch. 120, § 1.

The 2011 amendment, effective June 17, 2011, granted the authority the power to provide public liability coverage for health care student interns.

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2010, added Subsections D through G.

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, deleted former Subsection A which read: "employ the services of the state fiscal agent or select its own fiscal agent pursuant to regulations adopted by the board; provided that for the purposes of disbursing all money other than that in the fund, the secretary of finance and administration shall be the fiscal agent for the authority;" and redesignated former Subsections B to H as present Subsections A to G; in present Subsection B, inserted "money and" near the beginning, and deleted "and disburse money in" near the end.

The 1997 amendment, effective July 1, 1997, inserted "provisions of the Health Care Purchasing Act and the" following "procure lines of insurance coverage in compliance with the" in Subsection G and deleted the remainder of the Subsection after "purchase, renovate, equip and furnish a building for the board" in Subsection H.

The 1994 amendment, effective March 4, 1994, added the language beginning "provided that" in Subsection G.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, added the proviso at the end of Subsection A; rewrote Subsection C which read "collect, invest and disburse funds"; and deleted "the authority is authorized to" at the beginning of Subsection I.

The 1990 amendment, effective February 13, 1990, added "and" at the end of Subsections G and H and, in Subsection I, substituted "seventy-eighth fiscal year" for "seventy-seventh fiscal year" in the first sentence and "seventy-ninth fiscal year" for "seventy-eighth fiscal year" at the end of the second sentence.

The 1989 amendment, effective June 16, 1989, added Subsections H and I.

Contract action not barred by sovereign immunity. — Receiving a premium, providing insurance coverage, and denying benefits indicated the existence of a valid, written, enforceable insurance contract under the Public School Insurance Authority Act between the New Mexico public schools insurance authority and a school district regarding the authority's first-party insurance obligation; therefore, the school district stated a claim for breach of contract which was not barred by sovereign immunity. Moriarty Mun. Schs. v. N.M. Pub. Schs. Ins. Auth., 2001-NMCA-096, 131 N.M. 180, 34 P.3d 124.