Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee passed an amended tax bill (HB 107) aimed at addressing the state's budget shortfall, which was pegged at $497 million (or about 12 percent of the base budget) at the beginning of the year. Unlike the version of the bill passed by House, the Senate version creates net revenue losses…
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The tax and budget tug of war at the capitol between the Senate GOP and Governor on one side and the House on the other is crying out for a simple solution that demands an approach that protects our families, seniors, and children. Yesterday, the WVCBP and our coalition partners came with a tax plan…
Last week, the governor called the legislature back into special session to continue work on the state budget. The actual budget bill, however, was not part of the call, instead the intention was for the legislature to vote on a compromise tax plan that would influence how the budget was finalized. The version of the plan (…
The budget bill passed by the legislature on the last night of the session and later vetoed by the governor balanced the state's $497 million budget gap by taking $90 million from the Rainy Day Fund and cutting General Revenue appropriations by $402.6 million below the governor's proposal. The governor's FY 2018 proposal had originally…
One of the major aspects of the "compromise tax plan" between the governor and Senate leadership is the deep cuts to the personal income tax. The proposed tax compromise plan condenses the state's five income tax brackets into three brackets and reduces the rates, a move that would reduce income tax revenue by $356-$380 million per year, with…
Earlier this week, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy examined the fiscal impact of the proposed compromise tax plan between Governor Justice and Senate leadership that will influence how the budget is finalized. It appears House leadership is saying "nope" to this plan and it is unclear how the plan would close the state's…
Yesterday, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy posted an analysis of the "compromise tax plan," that is thought to be the foundation for budget negotiations between the Senate and the governor. Overall, the plan would reduce state revenue by $114.8 million. While most of the revenue loss comes from reductions in income tax rates,…
On the last night of the 2017 Legislative Session, the Senate and the Governor appeared to have worked on a tax plan compromise bill that would make sweeping changes to the state's tax system that would exacerbate our state's budget crisis and shift the tax load onto working families to make room for tax breaks…
On October 7th, voters in West Virginia overwhelmingly approved a $1.6 billion general obligation bond to invest in the state’s road system. This is on top of the estimated $500 million in Turnpike Bonds and $500 million in federal GARVEE road bonds that were approved during the special legislative session earlier this year, along with about $130 million in increased State Road Fund revenues to…
A recent report from the Economic Policy Institute looks at how many jobs could be lost in each state under the Republican health bill - the American Health Care Act. The AHCA - which would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) - is like a zombie - it just does not seem to quite die.…