With a relatively short 60-day legislative session, the bills that get considered—and the ones that don’t—tell us a lot about our lawmakers’ priorities. Now that we are exactly halfway through the 2023 session, the WVCBP team lends insight into what we’ve seen prioritized so far and what we would like to see prioritized during the…
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From looming PEIA and Medicaid shortfalls to crisis-level vacancies at state agencies, years of so-called "flat" state budgets are leading to real reductions in public services for West Virginians all across the state. HB 2526, the governor’s proposed personal income tax cut plan, would worsen these issues, leading to near-immediate budget shortfalls and eliminating the…
At his State of the State address last week, Governor Justice announced a proposal he called a "tsunami" to reduce the personal income tax by 50 percent. As we’ve previously highlighted, personal income tax cuts by nature overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest households. In this case, one out of every six dollars in tax cuts would…
Governor Justice has once again touted the state's so-called "surplus" as reason to pursue more tax cuts favoring the wealthy. But make no mistake, the state's surplus isn't a sign of uncharacteristically strong revenue growth, or a sign that the state's needs are all being met. Instead, the surplus has been largely manufactured by artificially…
For Father’s Day this year, Terrick found himself having to choose between his children. Incarcerated at Mount Olive Correctional Complex in Fayette County, it had been three years since he last spent a Father’s Day in the presence of his children. Two years earlier in March 2020, Governor Jim Justice declared a state of emergency…
West Virginia's Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) provides health care coverage to state and local government employees and their families, with total enrollment of about 75,000 active members. Providing adequate funding for PEIA has been an ongoing issue for the state, one that has only worsened in recent years. After four years of prioritizing flat…
Once again, West Virginia's budget "surplus" is being used to justify a push to reduce or eliminate the state's personal income tax. However, the state's current surplus isn’t a sign that West Virginia’s economy is uncharacteristically strong or that tax revenues are greater than is needed for the state budget; rather, it has been driven…
“I pay taxes, I follow all the rules. The law affects my life way more than the average person. There are a lot more stipulations that govern my life and I have no say.”[1] Taylor works at a West Virginia nonprofit and is serving a multi-year probation sentence. Under West Virginia law, she and others…
With early voting underway, West Virginians are beginning to weigh in on Amendment 2, the so-called Property Tax Modernization Amendment. If passed, Amendment 2 could undermine funding and services that voters have already chosen to prioritize via the passage of excess levies and bonds in their communities. If the tax exemptions in Amendment 2 are…
Open enrollment for 2023 Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace coverage begins today, November 1. The Marketplace has been a critical feature of our health care system since its introduction in 2014. It provides quality health coverage for families who are not eligible for employer-sponsored coverage, Medicare, or Medicaid. The ongoing public health emergency triggered by…