In the News
Senator's visit focuses on business, children's health care
September 3, 2008, The Huntington Herald-Dispatch --U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller encouraged Wayne County seniors on Tuesday to tell their friends about money that could help them pay the bills and buy groceries. More than 70 people showed up to the Westmoreland Senior Nutrition Center on Hughes Street to hear the senator speak about economic stimulus checks issued by the government this spring and summer. The senator also earlier visited an area business to talk about its success in Wayne County. He also raised concerns over children's health care during one of his stops. | Read
Report ranks W.Va. No. 2 in kids with chronic illness
September 1, 2008, The Charleston Gazette -- West Virginia has the second-highest percentage of children with chronic health problems in the nation, a troubling statistic that highlights the state's need to expand health coverage for kids, according to a report released today. | Read
Poverty rate up slightly in Appalachia
Those with health insurance increase
August 27, 2008, The Charleston Gazette --The number of Appalachians living in poverty last year increased by 114,000 to 13.3 million, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released Tuesday. But there was good news in the numbers. | Read
Poverty Down and Income Up in WV
August 27, 2008, West Virginia Public Broadcasting story and interview of Ted Boettner. | Read or Listen
Job Loss: Free Trade Fallout
August 8, 2008, The Charleston Gazette -- Cheap Chinese imports eliminated 2.3 million U.S. jobs since 2001, including 7,200 in West Virginia, according to a research paper by the Economic Policy Institute. | Read
Guide to State Budget Available
July 20, 2008, Times West Virginian -- A new guide to West Virginia’s state budget is now online, made available by the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy (WVCBP). | Read
The State Budget Demystified
June 25, 2008, The Pocahontas Times -- The West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy Publishes free guidebook to help citizens understand the state’s budget. | Read
State taxes not so high, report says
June 15, 2008, The Charleston Gazette -- West Virginians may feel the blow of high taxes at the gas pump, but their overall tax burden per person ranks near the bottom of the states, according to a new report. The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy has created a guide called "Your Map to the State's Budget" to help citizens navigate the tax system. "I think it's really important for a person to know what taxes they pay and see that they do benefit," said Ted Boettner, the center's executive director. | Read
Groups want West Virginia to suspend redesigned Medicaid plan until revised
June 11, 2008, The Huntington Herald Dispatch -- West Virginia's vaunted redesigned Medicaid plan is not working as intended, a coalition of groups argues, and should be suspended. | Read
Medicaid spending soars over decade: Number of participants in state increased only slightly in last decade
June 11, 2008, The Charleston Gazette -- West Virginia's spending on Medicaid health care for the poor and disabled has nearly doubled during the past decade, while the number of state Medicaid recipients has remained about the same, according to a recent study. But the report, by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, also found that Medicaid's growth hasn't outpaced overall health-care spending in the state. | Read
W.Va. income gap is among widest: State's poorest see earning fall since late 1990s
April 15, 2008, The Charleston Gazette -- The richest West Virginians are pulling away from the poor - and the middle class - faster than in the rest of the United States, according to a new study by two Washington, D.C., nonprofit groups. | Read
Wrapped Up: Legislature ends session with focus on stimulating state's stagnant economy.
March 13, 2008, The State Journal, Charleston -- When the West Virginia Legislature wrapped up its 2008 regular session March 8, lawmakers had passed 245 bills ranging from mandating hunter safety classes in public schools to designating the timber rattler as the first official state reptile. They also made millions of dollars in tax cuts | Read
Decision Makers
March 8, 2008 -- WV CBP Executive Director Ted Boettner is interviewed by Bray Cary on Decision Makers about the dubious value of tax cuts. | Watch.
USA Today
March 5, 2008, USA Today: Charleston - "A state policy group says two proposed tax cuts could sap state coffers of $531 million over the next 11 years. The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy says the bills that would reduce two business taxes, when combined with previous business tax reductions, could force budget cuts or a rise in other taxes to make up for the shortfall." | Read
Business Tax Cuts Will Cost, Report Says: $531 million loss in 10 years predicted
March 5, 2008. The Charleston Gazette. The state Senate recently passed two bills reducing business taxes that could cost $531 million in tax revenues over 10 years. The bills are now before the House Finance Committee... | Read
Report: New tax cuts could cost $531m over 11 years
March 4, 2008. The Charleston Gazette. A state
policy group says two proposed tax cuts being touted as economic
boosts could sap state coffers of $531 million over the next 11
years...
| Read
Report: Manchin would cut Medicaid
Services to recipients will not be decreased
February 18, 2008. The Charleston Gazette. For the first time in more than a decade, a West Virginia governor is requesting a decrease in spending for the state Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, according to a new report from a nonprofit research group... | Read