Blog

West Virginia and the United States as a whole are outliers compared to the rest of the world regarding the provision and generosity of policies that support working families. Relative to our peer Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, we spend far less on child care and early education, which has adverse impacts…

Earlier this month, Governor Justice approved the budget passed by the West Virginia Legislature at the end of the 2022 legislative session. Very little in the budget was changed from the flat budget proposed by the governor at the beginning of the legislative session. While appropriations from the base budget (which includes the General Revenue…

The COVID-19 pandemic has now been ongoing for two years. Opioid overdose deaths are rising. Maternal and infant mortality rates are alarming. The number of children in the foster care system across our state continues to outpace the rest of the nation. Despite these realities, the West Virginia Legislature did very little to pass proactive health-…

While life expectancy has steadily increased for Americans over the past century, these gains have slowed in recent decades — and even reversed course — in some populations due to the precipitous rise of opioid overdose deaths. This is of particular concern in West Virginia, the state hardest hit by the opioid epidemic and facing…

Earlier this month, the West Virginia Senate passed two bills that would drastically change the state's unemployment insurance system and will now be considered in the House of Delegates. SB 2 would reduce the number of weeks a worker can collect unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to as few as 12 weeks. SB 3 would…

West Virginia is one of very few states where revenue estimates are made by the governor alone. Official revenue estimates determine the total size of the state budget, and lawmakers cannot exceed the official estimates when funding state agencies and programs. Governor Justice’s administration seems to be exploiting that power by setting flat budgets year…

Last week the West Virginia Legislature introduced a bill to cut and eventually eliminate the state's personal income tax. This week, the House Finance Committee voted to advance that bill to the House floor with no discussion or questions asked. Like previous attempts to eliminate the state's income tax, HB 4007 would lead to major…

Since the state legislative session began last month, much attention has been focused on the high number of job openings in West Virginia. Two bills that are rapidly moving through the Senate (SB 2 and SB 3) would drastically cut unemployment insurance benefits for displaced workers in the name of “getting people back to work,”…

Earlier this month, Governor Justice released his FY 2023 budget proposal. Once again, the governor is proposing a relatively "flat" budget with few changes from the previous year. However, like with the FY 2022 budget, low revenue estimates and a lack of a six-year plan are complicating the budget picture, preventing investments in the state's…

In December, West Virginia state lawmakers in the Joint Committee on Finance discussed the "cliff effect," a phenomenon wherein a small increase in household income makes an individual or family ineligible for public programs like Medicaid and food assistance. The result can often mean less economic security for the individual or family, as the cost…