LD 1878
pg. 2
Page 1 of 3 An Act To Protect Small Payroll Processors Page 3 of 3
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LR 2704
Item 1

 
alternative form of security so as to ensure the maximum
practicable or appropriate protection for employers.

 
Sec. 4. 10 MRSA §1495-E, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:

 
2-A.__Alternative security; Payroll Processor Recovery Fund.__
The Director of the Office of Consumer Credit Regulation within
the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, referred
to in this subsection as "the fund administrator," shall
administer the Payroll Processor Recovery Fund, established in
section 980-D and referred to in this section as "the fund."__
Participation in the fund must be made available to any payroll
processor that is not a supervised financial organization as
defined in Title 9-A, section 1-301, subsection 38-A or a wholly
owned subsidiary of such a supervised financial organization.__
The fund administrator may increase the fund, replenish the fund
and seek reimbursement for the fund administrator's initial
deposit into the fund through annual or special assessments
against payroll processors using the fund.__Before being eligible
to participate in the fund, a payroll processor must provide a
$10,000 surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit in a form
acceptable to the fund administrator.__Assessments into the fund
must be in amounts equal to 1% of the balance of bond coverage
required pursuant to this section.__An initial deposit into the
fund must be made by the fund administrator in an amount not less
than 1/2 of the maximum amount of a surety bond or other security
required pursuant to subsection 1.__All amounts assessed by the
fund administrator must be paid into the fund until the fund
reaches the maximum amount of a surety bond or other security
required pursuant to subsection 1, after which time assessments
must be equally divided between payments into the fund and
payments to the fund administrator until the fund administrator
is reimbursed for the fund administrator's initial deposit into
the fund.__If an employer's loss due to a participating payroll
processor's failure to pay taxes or unemployment insurance
premiums is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the fund
administrator, the fund administrator shall require release of
funds to the fund administrator for the benefit of the employer.__
If employer losses exceed the maximum amount recoverable pursuant
to this subsection, funds are distributed to employers on a pro
rata basis, based on the magnitude of the demonstrated loss.__In
the event an initial claim is made against the fund, any other
claims arising within 45 days of the initial claim must be
treated as having arisen on the same day as the initial claim for
purposes of allocating recoveries to affected employers.__Total
funds released as a result of the failure of any one payroll
processor to pay taxes or unemployment insurance premiums may not
exceed 50% of the current fund balance.__Fund proceeds must be
used only for recovery of unpaid taxes and unemployment insurance
premiums and may not be used for any other purpose.


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