Today, the House approved a tax plan (SB 484) that broadens the sales tax base and lowers the rate to balance the House's budget (HB 2018). Altogether, the tax plan is expected to increase tax revenue in its first two years, while lowering tax revenue by year three. This is because of revenue triggers in…
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The House of Delegates version of the FY 2018 budget bill has been introduced. The House budget spends $258 million less in General Revenue than the Governor's proposed budget, balancing the budget largely through spending cuts. Unlike the Senate proposal, the House budget relies on new revenue from SB 484, which expands the sales tax…
The state Senate's version of the FY 2018 budget bill has been released, giving a glimpse into how the legislature plans to close the state's budget gap. The Senate's bill spends $402.6 million less from the General Revenue Fund than Governor Justice's proposed budget, meaning that once again, the budget is being balanced largely through spending…
Last Wednesday, the Senate passed Senate Bill 409 that makes sweeping changes to the state's tax system that decrease personal income and severance taxes while increasing sales taxes. Similar to previous Senate tax proposals, SB 409 shifts the tax load onto working families to pay for tax cuts for wealthier West Virginians. On top of…
Yesterday, the state Senate passed SB 576, which would allow natural gas producers to force unwilling landowners to allow drilling on their property. But beyond empowering natural gas producers over landowners in the state, the bill was amended to include what is effectively a cut in the severance tax rate for natural gas production. The…
Today, the House will vote on HB 2933, the latest version of "tax reform" in the state. HB 2933 would broaden the sales tax base, lower the sales tax rate to 5%, and create a flat 5.1% income tax rate. The bill would drastically increase West Virginia's already regressive tax system. The vast majority of…
The House and the Senate have advanced two similar tax bills that make substantial changes to the state's personal income and sales tax, which account for over 75 percent of state general revenue fund collections. Both of these bills will shift the tax load from the wealthy onto working families. It is unclear how either…
Today, the Senate Select Committee on Tax Reform will consider a joint resolution that calls for a constitutional amendment (SJR 8) that would transform the state and local tax system in West Virginia. Called the "Fair and Simple Tax Reform" amendment, it is part of an upside down tax package that includes SB 335 that…
As the House of Representatives takes up repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replacing it with the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a new report by the Urban Institute finds that the AHCA if enacted would cut federal funding for Medicaid in West Virginia by $4 billion over 10 years. To make up for…
The House proposal to repeal the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replace it with the American Health Care Act (AHCA), provides only a tiny fraction of very wealthy West Virginians tax cuts while reducing the number of Americans with health coverage by an estimated 24 million. The two big tax cuts included in the…