Earlier this month, a US District Court Judge issued a ruling in the Texas v. Azar lawsuit brought by 20 state attorneys general, including West Virginia’s Patrick Morrisey. If upheld, this ruling would invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA), which includes many important provisions beyond the ACA’s marketplaces and pre-existing condition protections. It is…
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West Virginia has historically had one of the lowest labor force participation rates in the country. The labor force participation rate (LFPR) is the share of people 16 years or older either working or seeking work. A healthy LFPR is a key driver of a society’s economic output per capita and overall standard of living in…
Last Spring, Governor Justice formed the West Virginia PEIA Task Force which was set up to find a long-term solution to the issues facing the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency, namely the growing cost of health care for teachers and other public employees. The deadline for the task force's recommendations was this week, and while…
Earlier this month, a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showed how the federal tax cut bill signed last year by President Trump exacerbated the growing racial wealth gap in the country. By gearing the bulk of its tax cuts to the very wealthy, who are overwhelmingly white, the Tax Cuts and…
Earlier this week, nearly 100 West Virginians, including farmers, educators, advocates and food pantry representatives, gathered in Buckhannon to address solutions to hunger in the Mountain State. The Food for All Summit was hosted by the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and other partners to focus…
A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and Prosperity Now takes a look at the federal tax cut bill passed by Congress and signed into law last year by President Trump and its impact on growing the racial wealth gap. Previous reports have shown that the tax cuts in the Tax Cuts…
On Monday, we will celebrate the service and sacrifice of American Veterans. Here at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, we think no one in America should go hungry, especially not our veterans once they return home to West Virginia. So we're calling on Congress to support and pass a farm bill that…
The annual open enrollment period for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, began on November 1stand continues through December 15th. This is a great time for folks who don’t get insurance through a job, Medicare or Medicaid to shop for health coverage at www.healthcare.gov. The Affordable Care Act and the…
On October 1, the West Virginia Tax Department issued guidelines and outlined intentions to start collecting sales taxes from remote internet retailers on January 1, 2019. As Charleston Gazette-Mail reporter Phil Kabler recently noted, this was a sharp policy shift. Nearly four months ago, Governor Justice proclaimed he had no intentions to allow the state to collect online sales taxes and that,…
State of Working West Virginia co-author and West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy board member Rick Wilson penned this blog post. Rick is the Director of the West Virginia Economic Justice Project for the American Friends Service Committee. He is a regular contributor to the Charleston Gazette-Mail’s editorial page as well as to WVCBP reports…