The legislature’s Tax Reform Committee met again this week, this time to discuss the state’s wide range of tax credits and their effect on economic development.
An important tax credit in place in 26 other states is the Earned Income Tax Credit which is modeled after, and augments, the federal credit. These pro-work credits incentivize work, and help low-income workers pay for child care, transportation and other expenses.
Here’s more in this week’s Bluefield Daily Telegraph.
And here’s more in the Charleston Gazette-Mail on one single mother’s success story in starting her own business with the help of the federal EITC and the staff at a Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site in Huntington.
There are more details on how a state EITC could benefits tens of thousands of West Virginia families in this WVCBP report.
Workers who have lost their jobs due to the coal industry’s decline could get relief under President Obama’s Power + Plan. The plan would provide retraining for coal miners and other resources to help the region’s economy transition as coal declines. Here’s more in this week’s Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram.
Faced with low natural gas prices and falling coal productivity, the coal industry is facing big challenges in West Virginia. Here’s more in the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram on why it’s time for West Virginia to begin producing the cleaner energy sources of the future.
Do you know young people ages 14-22 who are passionate about learning how to end racism in West Virginia? Encourage them to attend next weekend’s Freedom School in Charleston from August 28-30. Spots are filling up quickly, so encourage them to apply as soon as possible!
Plan to join the Place Matters webinar to highlight the recently published report “Blueprints to Action: Community Strategies to End Racism and Promote Racial Healing” on August 26 from 2:00 to 3:15 PM.
Register here.
The webinar is a collaborative effort of the PLACE MATTERS national learning community. PLACE MATTERS is a national initiative of the National Collaborative for Health Equity designed to build the capacity of leaders and communities around the country to identify and address the social, economic, and environmental factors that shape health and life opportunities.
Using a place-based approach, PLACE MATTERS seeks to address community issues such as poverty concentration, residential segregation, and the inequitable distribution of health risks and resources that too often accompanies them.
Help create healthier, wealthier and wiser Communities! Find out how you can utilize Health Impact Assessments to assess population health during the decision-making process about a broad range of public policies, programs and projects before they are implemented on September 3 in Charleston from 9:00 AM to noon.
Presented each October, the McCreight Lecture affords West Virginians the opportunity to hear nationally respected scholars and public intellectuals on a variety of humanities topics. McCreight Lecturers have included Ken Burns, Joyce Carol Oates, Joseph Ellis, Sylvia Nasar, Henry Louis Gates, Elaine Pagels, Gordon Wood, James McPherson, and Edmund Morris.
This year’s McCreight Lecturer is Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Eric Foner. His 7:30 p.m. lecture on October 22 at the University of Charleston is free and open to the public.
Join West Virginians from across the state on September 14 and 15 to lead policy strategy sessions on 27 issues affecting kids and families. This event is an opportunity for citizens to learn more about policy efforts throughout their communities, engage with their elected officials and interact with dozens of policy organizations!
Register here.
Tickets are now available for West Virginians for Affordable Health Care’s Annual Reception and Fundraiser, featuring keynote speaker, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Mathews Burwell. Email WVAHC Executive Director Terri Giles for more information.
