With faltering revenue collections, Governor Justice has ordered a $100 million budget cut for the current budget year, with more cuts likely for the FY 2021 budget. And, as with past budget cuts, higher education appears to be a prime target. This is all happening on the heels of a new report from the Center…
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If the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a lower court’s decision, the entirety of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could be invalidated (though it would almost assuredly go before the Supreme Court for a final decision before action is taken). Twenty million Americans, including 162,000 West Virginians, stand to lose their health care coverage…
The Affordable Care Act has been an undeniable success in West Virginia, both in terms of insuring our residents and boosting our economy. Unfortunately, since 2017, our uninsured rate has increased and enrollment in the ACA marketplace has declined sharply. This is likely due to several factors, including reduced Medicaid participation and confusion over the…
Over the last decade or so, local governments entities in West Virginia have used a myriad of business property tax incentives to reward or induce local economic development projects. These can include tax increment financing or TIFs, lease agreements, tax credits (e.g. local B&O), issuing bonds to purchase property, and the use of Payment in…
Last month saw the release of the 2018 American Community Survey from the Census Bureau, which included state level poverty and income data for 2018. As we reported at the time estimated 312,118 West Virginians lived in poverty in 2018, for a total poverty rate of 17.8 percent, the 4th highest in the country. Here are…
Earlier this year, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma and the Trump Administration began encouraging states to apply for “block grant” waivers for their Medicaid programs. These waivers would allow states to bypass federal standards and beneficiary protections in exchange for agreeing to caps on the federal Medicaid funding they receive.…
Earlier this year, Governor Justice, as well as the Chamber of Commerce celebrated the fact that West Virginia had the nation's highest personal income growth in country in the first quarter of 2019, using the single data point as proof that their preferred policies were growing the economy. In fact, the Chamber of Commerce went…
In May of 2016, West Virginia enacted a time limit on SNAP benefits for childless adults in the 9 counties with the lowest unemployment. Those 9 counties were Berkeley, Cabell, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Marion, Monongalia, Morgan and Putnam. While proponents maintained that cutting low-income childless adults from SNAP would boost employment, there is no evidence…
Josh Lohnes, Food Policy Research Director for West Virginia University's Food Justice Lab, authored this guest blog post. The WVU Food Justice Lab is an experimental space for research and action focused on challenging food system inequalities. As part of their food security work, Dr. Lohnes and his team estimated the potential impacts in West Virginia…
While West Virginia has experienced positive job growth over the last two years, it is imperative that we don't use employment data incorrectly so we can have a full understanding of how West Virginia's economy is rebounding. Unfortunately, the WV Chamber of Commerce keeps misusing employment figures to overstate West Virginia's economic recovery. And even worse,…