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Cleveland
Plain Dealer
Kasich proposes $1 billion Ohio
BWC rebate to employers
By
James F. McCarty
May
02, 2013
Gov.
John Kasich proposed today returning $1 billion in rebates to
210,000 employers from excess assets held by Ohio's Bureau of Workers'
Compensation.
Plain
Dealer File Photo
COLUMBUS,
Ohio �—
Gov. John
Kasich said today that he wants to return $1 billion in insurance
premiums to
210,000 public and private employers in amounts ranging from $5 to
millions of
dollars.
Kasich
said the rebates would come from the Bureau of Workers’
Compensation’s net assets, which exceed $8 billion and are more than
enough to
meet all of the state-operated insurer’s financial obligations.
"I
would call this one of the most significant economic
stimulus measures that we have seen," Kasich said during a news
conference
at a vintage T-shirt shop in the city’s hip Short North neighborhood.
"This is essentially a billion dollar tax cut for our medium and small
businesses."
The
larger-than-expected assets were generated by strong
investment management practices, Kasich said. The rebates, if approved
by the
bureau’s board of directors, could begin arriving in June or July.
"We’re
very confident that this will happen and be
approved," Kasich said.
The
proposed rebate would have no impact on a lawsuit that
recently resulted in a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge
ordering the
bureau to pay $859 million to 264,000 employers as damages for charging
excessive premiums, Kasich said.
The
state has appealed the ruling. If the ruling is upheld,
employers stand to receive refunds ranging from a few dollars to $2
million,
according to attorneys.
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the rest of the article at the Cleveland
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