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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Campos
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1-25-2006
2/2/06 HB 818
SHORT TITLE Create Forest Workers’ Compensation Fund
SB
ANALYST Dearing
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
$4.200.0 Non-Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
REVENUE (dollars in thousands)
Estimated Revenue
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
FY08
$4,200.0
Non-Recurring
Forest Workers
Compensation
Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 818 appropriates $4,200,000 from the general fund to create an entirely new fund es-
tablished for the purpose of contributing toward the workers’ compensation insurance premiums
for those forest workers that have earned a “safety certification.” The initial, non-recurring ap-
propriation would create this fund, to be administered by the Insurance Division of the Public
Regulatory Commission. All premiums to be paid by these “safety certified” forest workers
would be paid from this established fund over a three-year period beginning July 1, 2006, and
ending June 30, 2009.
pg_0002
House Bill 818 – Page
2
Any funds that remain within this fund at the termination of this program on June 30, 2009 are to
revert to the general fund.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $4,200,000 contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the general
fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at June 30, 2009 shall revert to the
general fund.
According to the Public Regulatory Commission, it is in large part up to the discretion of the Su-
perintendent of Insurance as to how much of the $4.2 M appropriation to spend during the three-
year period.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
According to the Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources Department (EMNRD), New Mexico’s
workers’ compensation insurance rates are higher than other western states. Currently, workers’
compensation insurance premiums for forest workers are $79 per $100 of payroll, which in-
creases the per-acre cost to land managers who are working on forest and watershed health pro-
jects. While New Mexico requires all of its forest worker contractors to carry workers’ compen-
sation insurance, many New Mexico forest workers are currently uninsured due to these pre-
mium costs.
A “Forest Worker Safety Certification Program” has been created and will offer a forest worker
safety certificate to any woods worker who completes the required training courses. In return,
forest workers who complete the certification program will be eligible for lower insurance rates,
offered by the Public Regulation Commission as a “state specific code”. The state specific code
will bring rates for safety certified workers down to $50 per $100.
This bill will bring rates down another 20% to a competitive level with out of state contractors,
which is around $30 per $100 of payroll. Employers and workers who are safety certified will
receive a price-break on their premiums. At the year-end audit where premiums are calculated
based on actual payroll, payments will be made from the Insurance Division trust to the carriers.
Workers’ compensation rates are based on a three-year average, so three years of incentives will
be sufficient to stabilize the pool size and establish the lower rates.
According to the Workers’ Compensation Administration, this bill has no impact on the Work-
ers’ Compensation Act therefore it would not have to go before the Workers’ Compensation
Advisory Council.
Although not stated in the bill, it is our understanding that the purpose of this bill is to promote
the logging of dead trees in order to reduce the threat of forest fires in New Mexico. This effort
is currently impeded by high workers compensation costs for logging in New Mexico. A non-
profit New Mexico organization called the Forest Guild has been working in cooperation with
the Insurance Division and the National Council on Compensation Insurance to design a safety
certification program and a corresponding new workers’ compensation logging classification that
will have a substantially lower premium rate than logging in general.
pg_0003
House Bill 818 – Page
3
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
Duplicates SB 286
There is a possibility that this bill violates the anti-donation clause of the New Mexico Constitu-
tion, New Mexico Constitution, Article IV., Section 31, Appropriations for Charitable, Educa-
tional, etc. purposes.
ALTERNATIVES
Increasing the contract service fees paid to those individuals performing forest clearing activities
in order to decrease the premium to payroll ratio to levels in-line with other western states.
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
Workers’ Compensation Insurance premiums for “safety-certified” forest workers would not be
subsidized over the July 1, 2006-June 30, 2009 interval.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
Does this bill violate the anti-donation clause of the New Mexico Constitution, New Mexico
Constitution, Article IV., Section 31, Appropriations for Charitable, Educational, etc. purposes.
PD/mt