Fairborn commencement
Badin graduation
Division I regional track finals
Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2011 > April > 28
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Gov. Kasich proposes $65M Workers’ Comp rate cut
Gov. John Kasich on Thursday proposed a 4 percent cut in workers’ compensation base rates for a total cut in premiums of about $65 million a year.
Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Administrator Steve Buehrer submitted the plan to the BWC board of directors, a press release said. If the board gives its approval next month, the new rates would take effect July 1, the release said.
The change reflects an average reduction, the release said. Each employer’s rate takes into consideration overall claim cost trends within specific industries and the individual company’s performance.
Besides the drop in the base rate, the average rate for some key industries would drop more. For example, manufacturing’s average rate would drop 7 percent, while commercials’ rate would go down 5 percent, the release said.
“Ohio has so much going for it - location, a trained workforce, infrastructure and an installed manufacturing base,” Kasich said in the release.
“We’ve got to get our costs down, however, to be competitive and workers’ comp rates are an important place to start.”
Chris Kershner, vice president for public policy and economic development for the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, called the proposal “a step in the right direction.”
Sens. Cates, Sawyer propose bill to honor John Glenn’s historic flight
Sens. Gary Cates, R-West Chester, and Tom Sawyer, D-Akron, on Thursday introduced bipartisan legislation to commemorate John Glenn’s historic space flight on Feb. 20, 1962 aboard Friendship 7.
Senate Bill 155 would commemorate next Feb. 20 as the 50th anniversary of the flight, which made Glenn the first American to orbit the earth. Every Feb. 20 after that would be “John Glenn Friendship 7 Day” in Ohio.
“He inspired an entire generation of Americans then, myself included,” Cates said in a press release.
“His accomplishments as one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts still serve as an inspiration to all Americans, his fellow Ohioans in particular.”
Glenn, 89, later went on to serve four terms in the U.S. Senate and returned to space for a second time in 1998.
UPDATED with Boehner reaction: Speaker Boehner approval dips in new poll
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner’s approval rating dipped in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll that showed Americans are just as likely to say they have an unfavorable as a favorable opinion of Boehner.
In the new poll, released Wednesday, 34 percent had a favorable view of Boehner, a Republican from West Chester Township in Butler County, the same percentage that viewed him unfavorably.
In January, when Boehner took over as speaker, 42 percent viewed him favorably, compared to 22 percent who viewed him unfavorably.
Boehner’s spokeswoman Brittany Bramell provided this reaction in an email:
“The Speaker is focused on the big challenges facing our country — and, thus far, the Democrats who still run Washington seem more focused on partisan attacks than real solutions.”
The trend in Boehner’s rating this year is similar to what Gallup found for Democrat Nancy Pelosi when she took over as speaker in 2007, an analysis found.
The poll was taken Wednesday, April 20, through Saturday, April 23, with a random sample of 1,013 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
