With the end of West Virginia’s 2023 fiscal year on June 30 came bold declarations about the strength of West Virginia’s economy and its historic revenue surplus. A deeper dive into the state’s tax receipts for the year reveals more of a mixed bag: strong tax receipts in the first half of the year slowing down drastically over the second half, the state’s big three revenue sources largely driven by factors beyond West Virginia’s control, and a glimpse of the harmful revenue impacts of sweeping income tax cuts.
The three largest sources of West Virginia’s $6.48 billion in general revenue in 2023 were the income tax, the consumer sales tax, and the severance tax. Together, they brought in more than 82 percent of the state’s total general revenue collections. Each of these critical revenue sources is impacted by the state of the overall U.S. economy and even global trends.
Lawmakers and the governor have already foreshadowed their desire to see even more income tax cuts. But they simply cannot pass the kind of deep tax cuts they envision and still meet their obligations to the state’s residents and taxpayers. We are already seeing the results of austerity through flat budgets enacted to create the illusion of space for the initial tax cuts, and things could only grow worse from here as economic factors that drove strong revenues continue to subside just as tax cuts are fully implemented.
West Virginians deserve robust public services that serve us all- strong, well-funded schools, emergency responders that have the resources to come when we call, adequately funded higher education institutions, and quality infrastructure. Neglecting these needs to hand out tax cuts primarily to the wealthy will neither grow our population nor our economy.
You can find Kelly’s full blog post here.
fter a delay due to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, West Virginia is rolling out SNAP work reporting requirements among a vulnerable population referred to as “Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents”. The WVCBP published a report on this policy in 2022 that can be found here. This week our health and safety net policy analyst, Rhonda Rogombe, was quoted in an article in the new independent news source, West Virginia Watch.
In less than 80 days, thousands of West Virginians who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for food could lose their benefits as pre-pandemic eligibility requirements take hold statewide for the first time.
The policy that went into effect on July 1 requires “able-bodied adults without disabilities” between the ages of 18 and 49 to either enroll in a job training program, work or volunteer for at least 20 hours a week by Oct. 1.
While there are exemptions for certain circumstances — including those in addiction recovery programs, people who are pregnant and students, among others — people who don’t meet the requirements will only be eligible to receive SNAP benefits for three months within a three-year period.
“We are going to see hunger spike,” said Rhonda Rogombé, an analyst at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. “No matter how you slice it, we’re going to have a lot of people hungry this fall who don’t have to be.”
Previous attempts to tie work requirements to food programs in West Virginia yielded lackluster results, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Resources. The nine counties that had them in place as part of a pilot program in 2016 saw no significant decreases in unemployment rates and actually fell behind employment growth when compared with the rest of the state.
Read the full article here.
West Virginia University is facing a projected $45 million budget shortfall. With significant budget cuts and a reduction in force on the horizon, there has been much talk about how the university arrived at this place. A recent article, featuring comment from WVCBP executive director Kelly Allen, provides further details on recruitment concerns amid program and funding changes. Excerpt below:
While West Virginia University officials blamed state education trends for its drop in student retention and $45 million budget deficit, a budget policy expert pointed to a lack of state support for education during a faculty senate meeting Monday.
Now, as the University looks to improve its student recruitment and retention strategies, some faculty ask how WVU could still look desirable during a financial crisis where nearly half of its programs are under review for potential cuts or discontinuation.
By 2028, WVU is expected to cut its enrollment by nearly 3,000 students.
Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management George Zimmerman said during Monday’s faculty senate meeting that the state’s college-going rate for West Virginia public high school graduates has dropped in recent years and is currently less than half.
Kelly Allen, executive director for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, was invited by a faculty member to speak during the meeting. She said that a major impact on the University’s budget was a lack of support and funding for higher education from state lawmakers.
This means tuition and associated costs must rise, scholarships like the Promise Scholarship are becoming less valuable in comparison and enrollment decreases will come as a result of education becoming less affordable.
For more information on the broader cost of disinvestment from higher education, see Kelly’s recent blog post and accompanying infographic.
In this week’s episode of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Podcast Us & Them, our policy outreach director, Seth DiStefano, was featured in a discussion called, SNAP: Do The Hungry Get More Policy Than Nutrition?
Roughly 18 percent of West Virginia residents use SNAP benefits. Nationally, that number is more like twelve percent, which means that 42 million people across America need help getting enough to eat.
Seth DiStefano, with the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, lobbies to support programs like SNAP — which became a centerpiece of the social reform programs in President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” initiative. DiStefano says SNAP has its roots in West Virginia. This goes back to when President John F. Kennedy started the original “Food Stamp” program in McDowell County.
“It truly is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in the history of the United States,” DiStefano said.Roughly 18 percent of West Virginia residents use SNAP benefits. Nationally, that number is more like twelve percent, which means that 42 million people across America need help getting enough to eat.
Seth DiStefano, with the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, lobbies to support programs like SNAP — which became a centerpiece of the social reform programs in President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” initiative. DiStefano says SNAP has its roots in West Virginia. This goes back to when President John F. Kennedy started the original “Food Stamp” program in McDowell County.
“It truly is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in the history of the United States,” DiStefano said.
Would you like to learn more about the status of infant and maternal mortality/morbidity in the Mountain State or share how it has impacted your life or the lives of your loved ones? Join our community conversation on July 21, 2023 at 12pm. All are welcome, particularly Black families and families of color who’ve experienced infant and maternal loss, inaccessible or biased health care, or are passionate about these issues. We are grateful for your voices and expertise.
You can register for the meeting here and RSVP to the Facebook event here.
We hope to see you in July!
To learn more about the status of infant and maternal mortality in West Virginia, see our recent blog post here.
Dr. Jerica Wesley from Marshall University and Dr. Lauri Andress from Andress & Associates are seeking volunteers for a research study to learn more from West Virginia women and birthing people about their health care experiences. Currently there is little state-level data publicly available about the disparate experiences of birthing people across race. This study seeks to empower West Virginians through the sharing of stories and to gather qualitative data to inform advocates and policymakers.
Contact Dr. Wesley (jerica.wesley@marshall.edu /304-746-1912) or Dr. Andress (landress@bridgingthehealthgap.com /713-553-8192) to participate or for more details.
The WVCBP’s Elevating the Medicaid Enrollment Experience (EMEE) Voices Project seeks to collect stories from West Virginians who have struggled to access Medicaid across the state. Being conducted in partnership with West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, EMEE Voices will gather insight to inform which Medicaid barriers are most pertinent to West Virginians, specifically people of color.
Do you have a Medicaid experience to share? We’d appreciate your insight. Just fill out the contact form on this webpage and we’ll reach out to you soon. We look forward to learning from you!
You can watch WVCBP’s health policy analyst Rhonda Rogombé and West Virginians for Affordable Health Care’s Mariah Plante further break down the project and its goals in this FB Live.
