Blog

March 6, 2024 by Sean O'Leary
Efforts to Cut Unemployment Based on False Premise

Earlier this week the House Finance committee passed SB 841, hastily drafted legislation that would make major changes to the state’s unemployment insurance system to the detriment of the state’s workers. These changes include cutting the number of weeks of unemployment benefits available to the state’s unemployed workers, reducing overall benefits for many workers, and…

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March 5, 2024 by Sean O'Leary
February’s Weak Revenue Numbers Warning of Things to Come

Now that West Virginia families and businesses are filing their 2023 taxes, the state is beginning to see the full impact of tax changes enacted last year. February's revenue collections were historically weak, coming in 30 percent, or $124 million, below last February's collections. February's revenue numbers are the worst in at least a decade…

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March 4, 2024 by Kelly Allen
HB 5159 and HB 5162 Weaken Child Labor Protections, Increase Risk of Dangerous Work

After 100 years of progress, child labor violations in the United States are soaring, and corporate interest groups are pushing coordinated efforts across states to roll back critical child labor protections, with at least 12 states enacting harmful rollbacks. In West Virginia, the House of Delegates passed HB 5159, which would weaken child labor protections…

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March 1, 2024 by Kelly Allen
To Comply With the Feds, West Virginia Must Pass a Strong Budget

This week we got our first look at the House and Senate versions of the FY 2025 budget. Both the Senate and the House proposed budgets came in far below the governor’s proposed budget, even as the governor’s budget proposal is $450 million below pre-pandemic FY 2019 expenditures after adjusting for inflation. And while legislative…

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February 22, 2024 by Sean O'Leary
West Virginia Growing More Reliant on Volatile Severance Tax Revenue

West Virginia's revenue collections are down $378 million compared to this time last year, in large part due to a collapse in severance tax revenue. At this point in FY 2023 West Virginia had collected $631 million in severance tax revenue, while this year the state has only collected $168 million as a result of…

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February 6, 2024 by Sean O'Leary
West Virginia’s Revenue Gap Grows to $378 Million as Tax Changes and Their Impacts Continue to Phase In

After five years of flat budgets, lawmakers returned to Charleston for the 2024 legislative session with many important spending priorities to address major needs. Members of the Republican majority have said they want to provide pay raises for public employees and raise starting salaries in sectors with vacancies, increase provider reimbursement rates, and address child…

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January 29, 2024 by Sean O'Leary
FY 2025 Budget Overview

Earlier this month, the Governor unveiled his proposed FY 2025 budget, which is now in the hands of the Legislature to review, amend, and pass. Proposed and enacted tax cuts continue to crowd out long-needed spending priorities in Governor Justice's budget, which once again relies on one-time surplus revenue that will likely soon dry up…

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January 16, 2024 by Sara Whitaker
West Virginia Judges Must Do Their Part to Help Fix the Jail Overcrowding Crisis

At the start of the 2024 legislative session, there is a rare moment of consensus. People behind bars, their loved ones, the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR), and lawmakers are all in agreement: West Virginia must address and reduce jail overcrowding. The good news is that lawmakers need not look far for a solution.…

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January 4, 2024 by Kelly Allen
Tax Cut Triggers Complicate Budgeting Process, Come at Cost of Pressing Unmet Needs

When state lawmakers return to Charleston later this month, enacting a state budget could be more complicated than in past years. As part of the tax cut package enacted in 2023, lawmakers didn’t just slash the personal income tax once—they also set into motion a ticking clock that will eventually fully eliminate the tax without…

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