Ohio’s Scandel-Ridden Workers’ Comp Board to Invest Only in Bonds

The board that oversees Ohio’s scandal-scarred insurance program for on-the-job injuries is playing it safe for now and will invest only in bonds for at least a month, a spokeswoman said recently.

The Workers’ Compensation Oversight Commission voted Thursday to stay with investment bonds until the end of May, when a draft of an investment risk study by an outside group is due, Bureau of Workers’ Compensation spokeswoman Nancy Smeltzer said.

The study will assess the safest investments for the bureau’s $14 billion investment portfolio, Smeltzer said.

The bureau is recovering from a scandal stemming from risky investments that reached $300 million in losses, including up to $13 million in a rare-coin investment. Coin dealer and Republican fundraiser Tom Noe, who handled $50 million in bureau investments, has pleaded not guilty to state charges alleging he stole up to $1 million of the coin investment.

He also has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he illegally funneled $45,000 to President Bush’s re-election campaign.

The scandal also led to Gov. Bob Taft’s historic no-contest plea on ethics charges.

The agency took a step toward a new financial approach in November by transferring almost all of its portfolio to fixed-income funds, or less risky funds such as those investing in bonds that pay a specific interest rate.

BWC Administrator William Mabe, however, said last month that the agency will have to sharply raise premiums on employers if the bureau’s giant insurance fund remains invested in the ultra-safe bond market where it is making minimal interest.

Topics Workers' Compensation Ohio