Food for all. It's a simple concept most of us among West Virginia's hills agree with. No one should go hungry. That's why the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition and other partners are holding a one-day food summit - Food For All - to gather those across the…
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West Virginia made headlines in recent months with a strong quarter of personal income growth. While some media outlets and politicians took the data as further evidence of the so-called "West Virginia comeback," subsequent releases of personal income data show that the strong quarter was more likely an anomaly than a sign of a trend. West Virginia's total personal income…
The Bureau of Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University released its annual Economic Outlook Report for the state earlier this month. West Virginia is expected to experience slow job growth, with employment forecasted to grow at an average rate of 0.4 percent per year for the next five years, according to the report's forecast. That's…
A decade since the Great Recession, state spending on higher education has yet to recover from years of deep cuts, including in West Virginia, according to a new report released today from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. West Virginia was one of 45 states that spent less per student in the 2018 school year than in 2008.…
Despite the rosy rhetoric, everything is not okay in West Virginia. Unemployment remains stubbornly high compared to the rest of the country, and, even as Appalachian counties overall seem to be on the rebound, West Virginia is not so lucky. We have seen a net increase in economic insecurity,with multiple counties heading in the wrong…
After adding jobs throughout most of 2017, West Virginia's economy is showing signs of slowing down in 2018, and the state has yet to fully recover from the Great Recession. Between May 2017 and February 2018, West Virginia added a seasonally adjusted 9,300 jobs. Since then, job growth has essentially stopped, with the exception of…
Former West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy Outreach Coordinator and current Manna Meal Inc. Executive Director Tara Martinez penned this guest blog piece. Martinez brings a provider perspective that urges Congress to reject cuts to food assistance and pass the Senate Farm Bill. The House version - which dramatically cuts food assistance - and the Senate version - which…
Last year's edition of the State of Working West Virginia report focused on the issue of low-wage work. The report found that nearly a quarter of the jobs in the state were low wage, paying less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of two, or $24,108 per year. Low-wage work is now the…
House Republicans and President Trump are hoping to pass a second-round federal tax cuts that are aimed at giving more money to those that have the most while jeopardizing funding for critical programs, such as Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and education. Last week, the House Ways And Means Committee advanced what they are calling “Tax Reform 2.0”. The center-piece…
Releases from the U.S.Census Bureau this week on health insurance coverage and income and poverty levels show that it is not quite time to break out the leis and celebrate the state's economy. First, despite recent health coverage gains in the years following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, fewer West Virginians were covered by health insurance in 2017 than…