Welcome to Budget Beat, a recap of this week’s blog posts, publications, reports and other information from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
While there has been a lot of debate about how President Obama’s environmental policies would hurt West Virginia’s coal industry and economy, there has been very little discussion about the impact of Governor Romney and Representative Paul Ryan‘s proposed policies on the Mountain State. Read blog post.
A recent article from Governing Magazine shows that West Virginia had the largest increase in income inequality from 2010 to 2011. While West Virginia has traditionally had lower levels of income inequality compared to most states, income inequality in the Mountain State is now nearly the same as the national average. Read blog post.
This week the WVCBP’s recommendation of a Future Fund for West Virginia was in a Charleston Gazette article. Please visit www.wvfuturefund.org to learn more about this idea and what it could mean for West Virginia.
Executive Director Ted Boettner was quoted in USA Today on energy policy in the presidential campaign in terms of West Virginia coal. “The regulations may have long-term impact on the coal industry, but recent mine closures are due more to the plunge in prices for natural gas that make coal less cost-competitive.”
