News Releases
Union Membership Boosts Pay for Workers in West Virginia: Belonging to a Union Raises Wages for Workers by 11 Percent and Low-Wage Workers by 16 percent, Study Finds
May 15, 2008. Charleston, WV -- Union membership raises
the wages of West Virginia workers by 11.1 percent on average.
For low-wage workers union membership increases earnings even
higher, an estimated 15.8 percent more than non-union workers,
according to a new study released jointly by the
Center for Economic and Policy
Research (CEPR) in Washington, DC, and the
West Virginia Center on
Budget and Policy in Charleston...
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West Virginia's Wealthiest Soaring Above the Rest: Incomes of Richest Five Percent 12 Times Greater than Low-income Families
April 14, 2008. Charleston, WV — The income gap that separates West Virginia’s wealthiest families from the rest of the state’s households has widened dramatically over the past two decades, according to a study released today. Over the past two decades the incomes of West Virginia wealthiest families – top 5 percent - grew much faster than middle and low-income families in the mountain state. From the late 1980s to the mid-2000s, the average income of families in the top five percent is 11.9 times as large as the poorest 20 percent of families and 4 times more than middle-income ones. The growth in income inequality between the richest 20 percent of families and the poorest 20 percent is the 12th largest in the nation... | Read HTML / PDF
Corporate Tax Cuts Could Cost State Over $1 Billion
March 3, 2008. Charleston, WV — The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy (WV CBP) today released High Costs, Dubious Benefits: The Fiscal Impact of SB 465 and SB 680, an analysis of how recent tax changes and new proposed business tax cuts will lead to either cuts in government services or require tax increases in the near future. The report shows... | Read
West Virginia on Verge of Losing Millions
February 8, 2008. Charleston, WV -- West Virginia stands to lose between $28 and $74 million in state tax revenue due to the economic stimulus plan passed Congress last night... | Read
Economic Stimulus Package Could Cost State $74 Million
January 29, 2008. Last Friday the White House and House leaders reached a tentative deal on a $150 billion economic stimulus package (one percent of the GDP) that could drastically reduce state revenues. | Read