The General Assembly finds and determines that: (1) employers' access to affordable workers' compensation insurance is of utmost importance to the economy of the State; (2) the Fund has been the State's insurer of last resort for workers' compensation insurance since 1914; (3) since its creation, the Fund was permitted to compete with the private insurance market; however, the Fund did not become an effective competitive insurer until the General Assembly exempted the Fund from most laws that apply to State government agencies and required the Fund to be a regulated insurer; (4) the most effective way to ensure that Maryland's workers' compensation system remains stable and affordable is to encourage and create as much competition in the marketplace as possible; (5) the long-term competitive success of the Fund would be enhanced if the final barriers to full competition were eliminated by converting the Fund into a fully competitive, fully regulated, private insurer; (6) converting the Fund into a private, nonstock, nonprofit insurer would level the competitive playing field for all workers' compensation insurers operating in the State; (7) converting the Fund into a private, nonstock, nonprofit insurer would provide assurance to Maryland employers that the financial success of the Fund would inure to their benefit as policyholders through dividends and lower rates and that surplus funds could not be transferred to the State's General Fund; (8) the interests of the State would be protected if the Fund's statutory purpose of insurer of last resort for workers' compensation insurance is preserved and the Governor retains the right to appoint two members of the board of the new company; (9) (i) the interests of the employees of the Fund would be satisfied by ensuring that current employees have the option to remain State employees of the Fund after the conversion of the Fund to a private, nonstock, nonprofit insurer; and (ii) the interests of employees of the Fund would further be satisfied by ensuring that current long-term State employees who remain State employees of the Fund after the conversion of the Fund to a private, nonstock, nonprofit insurer shall remain in the State retirement system and, therefore, would not be unfairly penalized by being prematurely forced out of the State retirement system due to the conversion; and (10) the interests of the residents of the State, both employers and employees, will be best met by converting the Fund into a private, nonstock, nonprofit, fully regulated, competitive insurer.
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