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The West Virginia legislative session began on Wednesday, February 10 and legislators have wasted no time rolling out their priority bills. Several bills with major fiscal impacts are being moved quickly, raising worries of whether lawmakers have had adequate time to thoroughly consider individual bills — much less to consider how the interaction of numerous…

Historic and present-day injustices, both in public policy and in society more broadly, have resulted in vast disparities in income across race and ethnicity in West Virginia. And West Virginia's upside down tax system does little to address those disparities. The average income of white families is 53.7 percent higher than that of Black families…

Urge your legislators to protect revenues by taking action here. We've covered Governor Justice's and legislative leadership's goal of eliminating the state's personal income tax from several angles over the past few weeks, showing that states without income taxes aren't growing any faster than states with the highest income taxes, that eliminating the income tax…

The COVID-19 pandemic has both underscored and exacerbated Black Americans’ health disparities across the United States. While this pattern has garnered national attention, West Virginia has been less successful in identifying and quantifying similar patterns, in part because Black West Virginians comprise less than 4 percent of the population, or roughly 64,500 people — well below the national average of 13…

February 10 marks the beginning of West Virginia’s 85th Legislature, and with this session lawmakers will have the opportunity to build upon their 2020 criminal justice reform efforts. The following are the criminal justice priorities for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. Immediately Protect Incarcerated People and Correctional Facility Staff Evidence is clear…

West Virginia’s local health departments have served as the cornerstone of public health initiatives for decades. Providing services such as immunization, family planning, harm reduction, environmental and food inspections, and much more, local health departments deliver a holistic approach to ensuring health and wellness for West Virginia residents across the state. They have been crucial…

Last week's blog post explored how eliminating the income tax in West Virginia would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, and that replacing just half the revenue lost with an increased sales tax would result in a substantial tax shift, with low- and middle-income West Virginians seeing a tax increase in order to pay for a tax…

West Virginia's Governor Justice and top lawmakers have expressed support for eliminating or reducing the state's income tax during the upcoming legislative session. The personal income tax is the state’s largest source of tax revenue, providing the state with $1.95 billion in FY 2020, which accounts for 43 percent of the state's general revenue fund.…

As COVID-19 cases rise across the country and throughout the state, West Virginia’s correctional facilities continue to be at heightened risk of outbreaks. Outbreaks are particularly concerning in these facilities because incarcerated people tend to have both more health challenges and less access to quality medical care than the general populace. With the state entering…

Statewide enrollment in West Virginia's public schools fell by 9,300 students this past year, as states across the country are seeing declining school enrollment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Declining enrollment could mean budget cuts for school districts, even as schools struggle with the extra costs of improving remote learning offerings and adopting safety procedures…