Board of directors.

(1) The board of directors of the corporation shall consist of 11 persons, 1 of whom is the insurance consumer advocate appointed under s. 627.0613 or designee and 1 of whom is designated by the Chief Financial Officer. The department shall appoint to the board 6 persons selected by private carriers from among the 20 workers’ compensation insurers with the largest amount of direct written premium as determined by the department, and 2 persons selected by the self-insurance funds or other persons with experience in workers’ compensation insurance as determined by the Chief Financial Officer. These appointments are deemed to be within the scope of the exemption provided in s. 112.313(7)(b). The Governor shall appoint one person who has commercial insurance experience. At least two of the private carriers shall be foreign carriers authorized to do business in this state. The board shall elect a chairperson from among its members. The Chief Financial Officer may remove any board member for cause. Each board member shall be appointed to serve a 4-year term and may be reappointed. A vacancy on the board shall be filled for the remaining period of the term in the same manner by which the original appointment was made.

(2) Members of the board may be reimbursed from the assets of the corporation for actual and reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them as members of the board of directors; however, members of the board may not otherwise be compensated by the corporation for their services.

(3) Any board member who is employed by, or has a material relationship with, an insurer in receivership shall be terminated as a board member, effective as of the date of the entry of the order of receivership.

(4) Board members are subject to the code of ethics under part III of chapter 112, including, but not limited to, the code of ethics and public disclosure and reporting of financial interests, pursuant to s. 112.3145. For purposes of applying part III of chapter 112 to activities of members of the board of directors, those persons are considered public officers and the corporation is considered their agency. Notwithstanding s. 112.3143(2), a board member may not vote on any measure that he or she knows would inure to his or her special private gain or loss; that he or she knows would inure to the special private gain or loss of any principal by which he or she is retained, other than an agency as defined in s. 112.312; or that he or she knows would inure to the special private gain or loss of a relative or business associate of the public officer. Before the vote is taken, such member shall publicly state to the board the nature of his or her interest in the matter from which he or she is abstaining from voting and, within 15 days after the vote occurs, disclose the nature of his or her interest as a public record in a memorandum filed with the person responsible for recording the minutes of the meeting, who shall incorporate the memorandum in the minutes.

(5) Notwithstanding s. 112.3148, s. 112.3149, or any other law, a board member may not knowingly accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or expenditure from a person or entity, or an employee or representative of such person or entity, which has a contractual relationship with the corporation or which is under consideration for a contract.

(6) A board member who fails to comply with subsection (4) or subsection (5) is subject to the penalties provided under ss. 112.317 and 112.3173.