Despite Surplus, Bureau Obliged to Ask for Budget Increase

At first glance, the request by the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation for a 9% increase in its budget seemed hard to believe. After all, the state-run system has a surplus of almost $10 billion and has been so successful in managing its money that it has granted more than $6 billion in rebates to employers in the last decade. Last week, the bureau also announced its largest premium rate decrease in 60 years. So why did BWC Administrator Stephanie McCloud spend a half hour Tuesday in a House committee meeting laying out the bureau's accomplishments and plans for the $645 millio...