The Hope Scholarship, West Virginia's school vouchers' program, is experiencing exponential growth in program costs. From FY 2024 to FY 2027, when the program is slated to become universal, meaning that public taxpayer dollars will go to families whose children are already in private school or being homeschooled, the cost is expected to increase more…
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Federal dollars support a wide array of public services and systems that touch the lives of all West Virginians — from health care and food assistance to child care and public schools. Under both the Trump Administration and Congress, many of these programs are being considered for deep cuts or significant reductions — in large…
Beginning July 1, 2024, many displaced workers in West Virginia became subject to more onerous bureaucratic red tape as a condition of retaining their earned unemployment benefits. As part of the much-discussed and hastily drafted SB 841, which dramatically overhauled the state’s unemployment insurance system in the waning days of the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers…
If we want to understand what is happening in West Virginia jails and prisons, we must listen to the people inside them. The Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) has taken a step in that direction. On Monday, the agency released a new policy that allows people behind bars to submit their grievances electronically. A…
On Wednesday, Mark Holdren stood in a Charleston courtroom and told a federal judge that he was guilty of a civil rights conspiracy that resulted in the death of Quantez Burks. Mr. Burks, who would have been 40 years old next month, was arrested by Beckley police on February 28, 2022. Unable to post the…
A few months ago, lawmakers on West Virginia’s jail oversight committee heard a familiar complaint: the jail bills are too high. One county commissioner after another appeared before the committee with the same request: please don’t make us bear the full cost of our jail bill. The jail bill saga started decades ago. In 1985,…
The Hope Scholarship Program was established in West Virginia in 2021 as an expanded school voucher-style program which diverts taxpayer funds from the public school system to families who can use them for private school or homeschool-related costs. Research shows that these programs primarily benefit families whose children were never enrolled in public schools. After…
As we enter the final quarter of 2024, a number of economic indicators show West Virginia's economy both slowing down and lagging behind the rest of the country. Growth in gross domestic product (GDP), personal income, wages and salaries, and employment have all shown signs of slowing, while business tax revenue collections are below that…
A weak September for General Revenue collections underscored the heavy price of 2023's tax cuts on the state's budget and should serve as a warning against Governor Justice and lawmakers moving ahead with even deeper cuts to revenue. Weak September Numbers September General Revenue collections totaled $567.7 million, which is $104.4 million below September 2023's…
West Virginia has some of the worst birthing outcomes in the nation. The WVCBP has previously focused on racial disparities in infant and maternal mortality, but the state must also address infant and maternal morbidity, or serious health complications that do not result in death. These are far more common and have a significant bearing on quality of…