The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law in March 2021, is a tremendous and unprecedented opportunity to invest in programs and projects that will increase public health and public safety as communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The $1.9 trillion package’s flexibility allows for state and local governments to fund a wide range…
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Last month, President Biden announced the American Families Plan (AFP) proposal, featuring major investments in K-12 education, child care, higher education, health care, and paid leave, as well as extended tax cuts for families and workers with children. The AFP also includes revenue-raising proposals that would affect only very high-income taxpayers. And while the benefits…
Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the April jobs report, showing that job growth slowed significantly in April and raising concerns about the economy. Following these disappointing jobs numbers were anecdotes from businesses claiming to struggle to find workers willing to work, particularly in the restaurant industry. "Generous" unemployment benefits were quickly blamed,…
The American Families Plan framework as outlined by the Biden Administration represents the single biggest investment in the economic security of workers and families since FDR’s New Deal. Two specific policies, permanent expansions of both the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), will directly increase the household incomes of hundreds of…
The 2021 West Virginia legislative session ended last month, and now that the majority of the bills have been signed by the governor or passed into law without his signature, we can take stock of how criminal justice policies fared at the Capitol. The 2020 session saw several bills that were strides toward reform and…
Amid a public health emergency, the 2021 state legislative session presented a unique opportunity to improve health and wellness outcomes across West Virginia. This year, delegates and senators introduced several bills related to health care and the social safety net that will impact families across the state, especially those with lower incomes. While some bills…
The health and economic impacts of COVID-19 have exacerbated longstanding economic inequities faced by West Virginians. Thankfully, the recent stimulus and rescue packages have shown us a way to rebuild from the pandemic by investing in families. In particular, the expansions of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in the…
Taxes were a major focus of the 2021 West Virginia legislative session, with the elimination of the state personal income tax a top priority for the governor as well as for House and Senate leadership. Fortunately for the state, all of the various proposals -- which each would have devastated the state budget while shifting…
Last week, Governor Justice approved the FY 2022 budget passed by the legislature at the end of session. While the fate of the budget was up in the air for most of the session as the legislature attempted to eliminate the income tax, by the time the session came to a close, only a few…
Last night, on a narrow 18-16 vote, the Senate passed an amended version of HB 3300, making significant changes to the version of the bill that the Senate Finance Committee had introduced just days before. The amended bill was voted on mere hours after being introduced, and was passed without a full fiscal analysis. With…