After promises last legislative session that HB 2014, the so-called Power Generation and Consumption Act, would make West Virginia “the most attractive state in the country for data centers“, lawmakers are back with a new package of tax incentives for data centers (along with manufacturers and other big corporations).
HB 4013 would give major tax cuts to these entities by allowing them to dramatically reduce or even eliminate their state tax liability by deducting most of their costs from their tax bill including capital investments, construction costs, and employee wages. Policymakers have seen an upswell in pushback from community members across West Virginia raising concerns about data centers’ impact on noise and light pollution, water consumption, and electricity costs. It is evident that these developers use–and in some cases, degrade–many of our public services: roads, infrastructure, emergency response, water, and electricity; enacting massive tax giveaways means they get to benefit from these public services without contributing financially to them like residents and small businesses do.
What’s more, it remains unclear how HB 4013 squares with the promises and priorities of 2025’s HB 2014. In that legislation, lawmakers sought to bolster state revenues by seizing the property tax revenue that data centers generate (which normally gets directed to local public services and school districts) and diverting it to a state fund to help replace the state’s income tax, among other priorities. But with HB 4013, legislators would be undercutting state revenues, slashing the same taxes that fund our state budget.
HB 4013 creates a new business tax incentive, targeting new warehouse and distribution centers; manufacturers; research and development facilities; regional or national business headquarters; air transportation, repair, and/or maintenance facilities; ship or barge transportation, repair, and/or maintenance facilities; telecommunication centers; and data centers, as well as the expansion of existing facilities. Businesses creating at least 10 new jobs and/or investing $2.5 million in West Virginia can qualify for the tax credits. Capital investment, construction costs, and employee wages can all be used to offset state taxes, including state income taxes, sales and use taxes, business franchise taxes, and payroll withholding taxes. With a large enough investment, such as with a data center, the credit could potentially offset all state taxes.
The total tax credit is calculated by totaling a percentage or share of several different inputs. Qualified developments could get a tax credit against:
The credit can be spread over 10 years and its size could quickly reach tens of millions of dollars for a single site, particularly for data centers valued in the billions.
Let’s look at a hypothetical example of a data center with a $2 billion value in machinery and equipment and construction costs of $200 million. Seven percent of that $2 billion value would equal a tax credit of $140 million, stemming from the machinery alone. An additional $4 million tax credit would also be available based on 2 percent of the $200 million construction costs.
If this data center employs 25 workers full-time, with an average wage of $100,000 per year and at least 50 percent of benefits paid for by the business, the data center would qualify for an additional credit of 30 percent of the average wage multiplied by the number of full-time employees. Here, the credit would equal $750,000.
In sum, in this hypothetical example, just one data center would qualify for a nearly $145 million tax credit. For comparison, total corporate net income taxes for all businesses in West Virginia are an estimated $274 million for FY 2027.
West Virginia already has a number of existing business tax incentives costing the state millions each year in forgone revenue, while promised jobs and economic benefit nearly always fail to materialize. Instead of providing even more tax cuts to businesses that are already looking to locate in the state, West Virginia should be investing in its workforce, infrastructure, and quality of life, all of which will make the state more attractive to businesses of all sizes and industries in a more effective way than more narrowly targeted tax incentives.
Read Sean’s full blog post.
Join us and take action today! Use this form from our friends at WV Citizen Action Group to contact your elected officials and urge them to reject HB 4013.
Learn more about how HB 4013 would impact West Virginia in this recent article, featuring insight from Sean.
In 2025, the WVCBP created The Quantez Burks Report, the first-ever public database of people who died in West Virginia jails and prisons. We named the project for Mr. Burks, a 37-year-old Raleigh County man killed by Southern Regional Jail staff in March 2022. We update the online database each month with information provided by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) through public records requests.
Our new fact sheet takes a look at state-reported deaths in West Virginia jails and prisons between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2025. During this period, at least 344 people died in West Virginia jails, prisons, and community corrections facilities; this translates to one person every 6.3 days.
The years at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic – 2020 and 2021 – were the deadliest for people behind bars. Deaths declined each of the next three years. But 2025 was the deadliest year behind bars since the pandemic, with deaths increasing 44.4 percent over 2024.
The fact sheet serves as a snapshot of state-reported deaths in custody over the last six years, detailing who is dying, where they are dying, and how they are dying. Our key findings include:
You can access the full fact sheet here.
It is important to note that to this day, DCR does not tell us the names of people who died inside their facilities. But with the help of loved ones, news reports, court records, and incarcerated people, the WVCBP has been able to put a name to nearly every person who died in the state’s custody. In many cases, these names led us to their obituaries, filled with photos and remembrances from loved ones. These obituaries give us glimpses of the lives lost – the people they loved, the work they did, the activities that brought them joy. We can recognize ourselves in these people who died. We share some of their memory in our blog post here, which provides some excerpts from the obituaries.
West Virginia’s jails continue to be deadly and overcrowded, an issue exacerbated by the recent increased reliance on jails to house detained immigrants, a number of whom have already been found to be wrongfully detained. Even short periods of incarceration in these facilities can prove to be life-threatening. Learn more in this recent article, featuring insight from Sara.
In January, Governor Morrisey unveiled his proposed FY 2027 budget, which is now in the hands of the West Virginia Legislature to review, amend, and pass. Newly proposed tax cuts–on top of previously enacted tax cuts–as well as continued growth in the Hope Scholarship are creating significant budget strains, leading to considerable budget gaps in the coming years. Like past budgets, the FY 2027 budget is largely flat, and once again relies on one-time surplus revenue to fund ongoing costs. Ensuring Medicaid solvency, supporting public schools, and increasing access to child care remain unaddressed in the proposed budget.
The FY 2027 Proposed Budget
Governor Morrisey proposed a $5.93 billion base budget for FY 2027, which includes General Revenue and Lottery appropriations, excluding surplus and supplementals. Public education remains the largest area of the budget, at $2.29 billion, or 39 percent of the base budget. The Department of Human Services–which houses the state’s General Revenue appropriations for Medicaid as well as for social services–is the second largest, at $1.10 billion, or 18 percent of the base budget. Notably, the Hope Scholarship alone now accounts for $230.1 million, or four percent of the base budget.
Budget Increases and Decreases
While the FY 2027 budget is largely flat compared to FY 2026, a few areas of the budget did see funding increases. The fastest growing and largest increase was for the Hope Scholarship, which saw funding increase by $124.3 million in the FY 2027 proposal. A proposed public employee pay raise increased proposed spending by $78.4 million, and the state’s share of PEIA increased by a proposed $35.1 million.
Declining student enrollment and an increase in local property taxes decreased state aid to schools through the school aid formula by $27.7 million, while $117.4 million was cut from Medicaid and Managed Care Organizations, which was moved to the surplus section of the budget.
One-time Funding for Ongoing Needs
The proposed FY 2027 budget calls for using $270 million in surplus funding to keep the budget balanced. This includes $170 million for Medicaid–ongoing funding that will have to be found in future budgets. In addition, $100 million in surplus funding is being used for the Division of Highways, funding that typically would come from the State Road Fund.
While the FY 2027 proposed budget is balanced, significant budget gaps are projected for future years, totaling $1.2 billion from FY 2028 to FY 2031. Those budget gaps are driven by Hope Scholarship growth as well as a five percent income tax cut that Governor Morrisey included in his budget proposal, which would reduce revenue by an estimated $134 million per year.
Notably, the governor used his State of the State address to push for an additional five percent income tax cut, bringing the total tax cut to 10 percent or $268 million per year. While not reflected in the six year plan, this would push the projected budget gaps to $1.7 billion from FY 2028 to FY 2031. Notably, the projected budget gaps assume no further growth in the Hope Scholarship, despite it currently being the fastest growing part of the budget, and no growth in Medicaid, despite medical inflation and significant costs being shifted onto the state budget from Congress’ passage of HR 1 (“One Big Beautiful Bill Act”).
West Virginia Falling Short of Hitting “Responsible” Income Tax Cut Trigger
When the West Virginia Legislature passed its initial income tax cut in 2023, it included an automatic mechanism designed to incrementally reduce personal income tax rates if specific state revenue goals had been met. If General Revenue collections (minus the severance tax) exceed the inflation-adjusted 2019 baseline, an automatic rate reduction is enacted, capped at 10 percent in a single year. The trigger is intended to gradually reduce the state personal income tax if economic growth exceeds the benchmark.
It is critical to note, Governor Morrisey is calling for a full 10 percent income tax cut in FY 2027 despite the state falling hundreds of millions of dollars short of meeting the benchmark. FY 2019 General Revenue collections, minus the severance tax, totaled $5.41 billion, adjusting for inflation. FY 2025 General Revenue collections, minus the severance tax, totaled $5.08 billion, $327 million short of meeting the benchmark for an income tax rate reduction. The official FY 2026 General Revenue collections estimate, minus the severance tax, is $4.93 billion, which would be $482 million short of meeting the benchmark. The revenue estimate for FY 2026 is below FY 2025’s actual collections, demonstrating that overall revenue is estimated to decline even before potential additional tax cuts beyond the trigger are enacted.
Proposed Tax Cuts Overwhelmingly Benefit the Wealthy
Over the past decade, two-thirds of state and federal tax cuts have gone to the wealthiest 20 percent of West Virginia households, with the wealthiest five percent (who have average annual incomes of over $500,000) now paying $1.2 billion less in taxes per year. The governor’s proposed 10 percent income tax cut is more of the same–it would deliver 65 percent of the tax cuts to the wealthiest 20 percent of the state, while reducing desperately needed state revenues by an estimated $268 million per year.
The five percent tax cut that is included in the governor’s budget proposal tells a similar story. At a cost of an estimated $134 million, 65 percent of the tax cuts go to the wealthiest 20 percent of the state.
Tax Reform That Works for West Virginia
After the recent federal and state income tax cuts, the wealthiest 20 percent in the state (those making approximately $200,000 per year), have received tax cuts totaling $2.1 billion annually. Meanwhile, state needs like fully funding Medicaid, addressing the ongoing child care crisis, supporting public education, and more go unaddressed.
Reforming the state’s income tax brackets would raise critically needed revenue to both close budget gaps and fund unaddressed needs, all while maintaining the existing tax cuts for the majority of West Virginians. Adding an eight percent bracket starting at $200,000 and a 12 percent top rate starting at $500,000 would raise $500 million, while only those making over $200,000 per year would see a tax increase. And even with that tax increase, their total state and federal tax cut since 2015 would still total $1.6 billion.
Read Sean’s full blog post.
Watch our video where Kelly breaks down how Gov. Morrisey’s proposed tax cut is coming at the cost of underfunding Medicaid.
Learn more about how Gov. Morrisey is misusing one-time surplus funds to finance his proposed tax cut in this recent article, featuring comment from Sean.
West Virginia lawmakers across the political spectrum tend to agree on the importance of prioritizing state policies that will expand our economy, increase incomes for families, and boost jobs. And understandably so, as the economy and cost of living are generally the top issues for their constituents and voters.
And yet, for years in the Mountain State, our elected leaders have undercut this aim to grow the economy and wages by focusing on slashing taxes and catering to big businesses and industries, whether via deregulation or taxpayer handouts. New research affirms what the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy has been warning for years: reducing tax rates doesn’t strengthen economies or raise households’ incomes, particularly when deep tax cuts and corporate handouts undermine our ability to provide the public services that families and businesses want and need — solid infrastructure, good schools, high-quality health care and safe communities.
Titled “Is Your State Better Off Now Than It Was Fifty Years Ago?” researchers at the Urban Institute looked at median household incomes in all 50 states between 1970 and 2023. Median household income is an important economic metric, as it reflects the relative prosperity of an area. They found that 49 states saw increases in inflation-adjusted median household income over the 50-plus year period.
The lone outlier? West Virginia, which was the only state where the median household’s inflation-adjusted income is lower now than it was in 1970. They also found that West Virginia’s median household income in 2023 ranked 49th of 50 states, ahead of only Mississippi.
While 49 of 50 states have seen some income growth for the median household since 1970, there was dramatic variation in household incomes from state to state. Massachusetts, the top-ranked state in 2023, had a median household income nearly double that of Mississippi, the 50th ranked state. The researchers went on to look at trends in all states, comparing the best and worst performing states for household earnings.
They highlight the wide body of research finding that public spending on education, public spending on transportation and population growth are all associated with economic growth. Building on that, their new analysis finds that educational attainment is the most important factor associated with state household income growth.
In West Virginia and around the country, prioritization of tax cuts — particularly when already facing budget deficits — is directly at odds with those priorities. The WVCBP’s research has found that recent state tax cuts have forced “flat budgets” resulting in declining state spending toward health care and toward all levels of education (early childhood, K-12 and higher education). This ongoing divestment has led to the loss of jobs and will almost certainly undermine opportunities for our population to attain higher levels of education.
Because policymakers in our state are always eager to move West Virginia up the tax competitiveness rankings, we compared the Urban Institute’s household income results against the conservative Tax Foundation’s 2026 rankings for the supposed best state tax climate. Of the 15 states with the highest median household incomes in 2023, only two (New Hampshire and Alaska) appeared in the Tax Foundation’s top ten best states for tax climate. Conversely, nine of the Tax Foundation’s 10 “worst” states in their 2026 tax climate index (ranked as such due to high or “complex” taxes), were in the top 15 states for highest median household incomes. This begs the question: the worst states for whom? Certainly not for those who are able to earn higher incomes for their families to afford life’s basics.
West Virginia has decades of experience cutting taxes to improve its business and tax climate in the pursuit of climbing arbitrary rankings — first the corporate net income tax and business franchise tax cuts 15 years ago and now the deep personal income tax cuts of recent years. Notably, in all those cases, the tax cuts have failed to result in promised economic growth for our residents.
Nevertheless, many policymakers willfully ignore these prior results and existing evidence, choosing instead to press on and promising that the NEXT tax cut will be the one to turn things around. And as state revenues decline as a direct result of these cuts, lawmakers slash spending toward public services like public education and infrastructure that would actually improve prosperity for our people and make West Virginia more appealing for businesses and families alike.
Read Kelly’s full op-ed.
Infant and maternal mortality rates are often considered an indicator for the overall health and well-being of a community. West Virginia’s rate of infant deaths is higher than the national average and Black babies are twice as likely to die in the prenatal period or their first year of life as white babies. Similarly, Black mothers in West Virginia are dying at disproportionate rates compared to their peers.
The Mountain State has the power to improve both infant and maternal health outcomes through proactive health policy advancements.
View the full fact sheet in the images below or download it here.
West Virginia legislators commissioned an independent study on public school funding in the Mountain State. The RAND Corporation’s study confirmed what educators and families have long been saying: our education funding system underinvests in students with the greatest needs and the Hope Scholarship is making it worse. A recent article, including insight from WVCBP education policy fellow Tamaya Browder, provides further details on RAND’s recent recommendations to state legislators. Excerpt below:
Just days before the West Virginia Department of Education took over another school district, lawmakers were told they should cap private education scholarships based on need and better fund public schools.
Clicking through a PowerPoint presentation, RAND Corporation policy analysts Benjamin Master and Brian Phillips told lawmakers who had piled into their seats in the House of Delegates that the state’s funding formula for public schools is convoluted and fails to address students who need it the most.
Their report was commissioned by the West Virginia House of Delegates for $114,000.
Master and Phillips said the Hope Scholarship, which gives thousands of dollars to families who choose to put their children into private education, should be capped based on income in order to keep costs down.
Later that evening, Gov. Patrick Morrisey told lawmakers in his State of the State address that his new budget would fully fund the Hope Scholarship, which now accounts for more than $230 million, making up 75% of the Department of Education’s operating budget.
Just two days later, the state took over Hancock County Public Schools, after the state Department of Education discovered the district would not be able to make payroll.
State officials have said in testimony before the House Finance Committee that a combination of bad bookkeeping, leasing an astroturf field and relying on COVID-19 funding to keep people in jobs caused the problem.
But Tamaya Browder, an education fellow with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, noted these budget pressures don’t happen in a vacuum. She said school districts had to rely on COVID funds to keep staff because the school aid formula isn’t giving enough to schools and the Hope Scholarship is diverting money away.
“When that (COVID) funding was lost, our recommendations at that time was actually to replace that with the state funding that we would be committing to the Hope Scholarship,” Browder said.
Senate Education chair Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, said she too shares concerns about the potential for Hope to cannibalize investments made into the public school system, especially with eligibility opening up to any family next school year.
The RAND study also suggested more funding go to districts with higher populations of students living in poverty, students in special education and students who are learning English as a second language.
State Superintendent Michele Blatt told the House Finance committee that counties are only receiving about half the funds they need to teach special education students.
“A lot of that comes to personnel, because so many of our high-need, special education students need nurses. They need one-on-one aid, and these different resources,” she said. “And so all of those things impact and pull from the other services our counties are able to provide.”
The RAND report lays out multiple funding scenarios for reworking the school aid formula to shift more money towards special education, as well as the low-income and English as second language students. Those proposals range from $37 million to $80 million additional dollars.
Blatt urged adoption of the RAND recommendation for additional funding to go to school districts based on the population of special education students.
Grady also believes the answer is more funding for public schools.
“We have special education students that cost 10 times as much to educate as a ‘traditional student,’” she said. “You have counties that have more of a population of those kids. They need to be paid adequately for the cost of education.”
Read the full article.
Watch Tamaya’s video highlighting some of the key findings from the RAND study.
Learn more by reading Tamaya’s recent publications highlighting how WV school districts are underfunded and why long-term solutions are necessary to address the challenges our schools are currently confronting.
Action is needed to preserve child labor protections in West Virginia that keep our kids safe.
HB 4005 passed the House of Delegates and is now headed to the WV State Senate. This bill would eliminate state rules that define which jobs are too dangerous for teenagers and remove requirements for direct supervision when children work with hazardous machinery.
West Virginia already allows 16 and 17-year-olds to develop real workforce skills through approved Youth Apprenticeship Programs—programs that work precisely because they include proper safeguards. Com. Sub. for HB 4005 isn’t about expanding opportunity. It’s about removing protections that keep young workers safe. The bill surrenders West Virginia’s authority to determine what protections teenagers need on the job to protect them from injury and death.
This bill is part of a nationwide effort to weaken child labor laws at the state level. The consequences are serious: teens are more likely than adults to be injured or killed on the job, and child labor violations have increased across the country as these protections have eroded.
Federal rules are not a substitute for state standards—they don’t apply to all employers the way our state rules do, and they’re also under attack. West Virginia needs to maintain its own strong protections.
Please contact your State Senators today using this form. Urge them to protect children and vote NO on HB 4005!
Earlier this week, Black Policy Day organizers offered a webinar highlighting the work of young, gifted Black leaders shaping policy in our state. The WVCBP’s very own Rhonda Rogombe was one of the special guests featured in the webinar. If you weren’t able to tune in on Wednesday, you can watch a recording of the webinar here.
Black Policy Day was established by Crystal Good (Black By God), Katonya Hart (Partnerships for the Arts & Education), and Dr. Shanequa Smith (WV Black Voter Impact Initiative) who shared a vision of creating space for historically oppressed and ignored groups to amplify their stories and participate in the policymaking process.
This free event, taking place this year on February 24, welcomes all to visit the Capitol to engage with their state leaders, discuss the issues that are most impacting Black and minority communities, and learn how to take action to make impacts in their communities.
Throughout the day, there will be opportunities to engage in meetings with lawmakers, space for vendors and tabling opportunities, youth activities, and much more. Information about current opportunities and resources will be provided. The afternoon will include a youth-centered lunch event with accompanying activities. Child care is available all day.
You can register for free or make a donation to the event here.
You can learn more about Black Policy Day here.
At the WVCBP, we are dedicated to advocating for policies and budgets that improve economic mobility and quality of life for all West Virginians. We work to advance public policies that increase opportunity and eliminate inequities through credible and accessible research and community-rooted advocacy.
As the 2026 West Virginia legislative session continues to ramp up, consider supporting our efforts by making a donation! Your contribution strengthens the work we do every day to fight for a prosperous Mountain State where everyone has a meaningful opportunity to thrive with equitable access to health care, education, jobs, housing, and safe communities.
