Workers' Compensation Commission budget edges up as new case system, vacancies and Uninsured Employers Fund raise concerns

Micah Richardson, a budget analyst with the Maryland Department of Legislative Services, told the Public Safety and Administration Subcommittee that the Workers' Compensation Commission's fiscal 2026 allowance rises by about $656,000 from fiscal 2025 to roughly $24,000,000 and that personnel costs account for about 72% of the agency's budget.

The presentation and subsequent exchange centered on operational issues tied to the commission's recent CompHub IT modernization, staffing and continuing concerns about the solvency and administrative costs of the Uninsured Employers Fund (UEF). The DLS report noted a sharp drop in hearings scheduled within the agency's 60‑day target and flagged UEF expenditures that have exceeded revenues in recent years.

DLS analyst Micah Richardson said the fiscal 2026 budget "increases by around $656,000 compared to the fiscal 25 appropriation to a total of around $24,000,000" and that 72 percent of that total "supports personnel costs." He told the committee that the single largest year‑over‑year increase is about $1,600,000 for salaries, primarily reflecting cost‑of‑living adjustments carried in fiscal 2025. Richardson also summarized the CompHub modernization as a completed project that reduced the FY‑26 budget by about $2,500,000 because the major capital work finished in December 2024; DLS recorded the…