At the start of the 2024 legislative session, there is a rare moment of consensus. People behind bars, their loved ones, the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR), and lawmakers are all in agreement: West Virginia must address and reduce jail overcrowding. The good news is that lawmakers need not look far for a solution.…
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When state lawmakers return to Charleston later this month, enacting a state budget could be more complicated than in past years. As part of the tax cut package enacted in 2023, lawmakers didn’t just slash the personal income tax once—they also set into motion a ticking clock that will eventually fully eliminate the tax without…
For 21 months our state has been embroiled in a preventable jail crisis. During that time, lawmakers never asked for testimony from people living behind bars. They never asked for testimony from the parents, spouses, or children of people living behind bars. Only once did they hear from two people who had been previously incarcerated.…
Medicaid is a federal-state partnership that provides health coverage to over 500,000 West Virginians on average. The program is vital to West Virginia’s hospitals and providers, with research showing Medicaid expansion has resulted in reduced uncompensated care, increases in hospital operating margins, and decreases in closures of hospitals and obstetric units. Medicaid improves hospital finances…
According to newly released U.S. Census Bureau estimates, West Virginia's net migration was positive in 2022. Approximately 43,000 people moved to West Virginia from another state last year, though that's 1,000 fewer than moved to the state in 2021. The number of people who moved away from West Virginia to another state rose from 36,000…
This guest blog post was authored by Brent Radabaugh. Brent is serving a life with mercy sentence at Huttonsville Correctional Center. He is a graduate of the Bible College, a peer mentor, and a proud father of two young men. There was a time in my life when I don’t think I could have changed…
Between changes to food policy and a local food pantry closure, hunger is alarmingly high in Kanawha County. As a state, West Virginia struggles with some of the highest food insecurity in the country. Statewide, 14 percent of households are considered food insecure, compared to 10.2 percent of the U.S. population. With the end of…
For the first four months of FY 2024, West Virginia's General Revenue collections are down $210.7 million compared to the same period in FY 2023, despite the state exceeding the fairly modest revenue estimates set by the Governor Justice administration in an effort to maintain a 'flat budget.' The combination of self-inflicted tax cuts and…
Over the last year and a half, the public has learned what people behind bars have known for years: that the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitations (DCR) consistently fails to keep people in its custody safe. Since the beginning of 2020, 217 people have died in a West Virginia jail or prison. This…
West Virginia places four times as many children per capita into the foster care system as the United States as a whole. Most foster care entries in West Virginia are related to substance use or neglect—not abuse. Poverty and lack of access to substance use treatment are major drivers of foster care entry.[i] To solve…