Rhode Island § 28-53-2 - Rhode Island Uninsured Protection Fund

§ 28-53-2. Establishment — Sources — Administration.

(a)(1) There shall be established within the department of labor and training a special restricted receipt account to be known as the Rhode Island uninsured protection fund. The department shall maintain the fund for the exclusive purpose of making payments to an injured employee otherwise entitled to benefits pursuant to chapters 29 — 38 of this title, or in the case of death of the injured employee, to person(s) presumed wholly dependent for support upon the deceased employee, as defined in § 28-33-13, and any costs specifically associated therewith, where the employer required to secure payment of the compensation failed to insure or self-insure its liability at the time the injury took place as determined by the director and the workers’ compensation court.

(2) The fund shall be capitalized from excise taxes assessed against uninsured employers pursuant to the provisions of § 28-53-9 and from general revenues appropriated by the legislature. Beginning in the state fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, the legislature may appropriate up to two million dollars ($2,000,000) in general revenue funds annually for deposit into the Rhode Island uninsured protection fund.

(b) All moneys in the fund shall be mingled and undivided. The fund shall be administered by the director of the department of labor and training, or his or her designee, but in no case shall the director incur any liability beyond the amounts paid into and earned by the fund.

(c) All amounts owed to the uninsured protection fund from illegally uninsured employers are intended to be excise taxes and as such, all ambiguities and uncertainties are to be resolved in favor of a determination that such assessments are excise taxes.