As we reported in June, the Ohio legislature attempted to make substantial changes to workers’ compensation laws as part of the overall budget. However, after the House and Senate could not reach an agreement on many parts of the budget, Gov. DeWine permitted the legislature additional time to reach a compromise. The actual budget submitted to and signed by the governor contained NO changes to the workers’ compensation laws. Conspicuously absent from the budget was the House’s proposal requiring any applicant for workers’ compensation benefits to disclose whether they were a citizen or not. Further, the budget did not include any provision for first responders with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to obtain workers’ compensation benefits. Hence, for now, the Ohio workers’ compensation laws have not changed.

Rumors exist that legislators intend to introduce specific legislation to address these proposed changes as well as other changes. Stay tuned and we will keep you updated should the legislature introduce any new bills to change the Ohio workers’ compensation laws.