Sec. 3. 10 MRSA §1495-E, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2005, c. 278, §4, is further amended to read:

2. Modification of bond requirement. If bonding is unavailable under the terms and conditions of subsection 1, the The administrator, within the administrator's discretion, may modify those terms and conditions specified in subsection 1 or may permit submission of an irrevocable letter of credit or other 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