Families who struggle to pay for expenses put most of their money right back into the economy when they buy necessities. A West Virginia Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) would give these families an additional boost at tax time and generate millions of dollars in local West Virginia communities. This week the Charleston Gazette editorial…
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Decriminalizing marijuana could save West Virginia millions of dollars in its corrections budget and legalizing medical marijuana could provide an alternative to highly addictive opioid painkillers. These are among the findings of Modernizing West Virginia's Marijuana Laws: Potential Benefits of Decriminalization, Medical Marijuana and Legalization, a report released yesterday and written by Tara Holmes, WVCBP…
Lunch and Learn About the Benefits of a Soda Tax This Wednesday, August 17How could a soda tax improve our physical and fiscal health in West Virginia?Numerous studies have linked the excessive consumption of soda to the nation's epidemic of obesity, diabetes and other diseases. A soda tax could reduce consumption and positively impact public…
Join Us for the First Evening of the 2016 Summer Policy InstituteThe Inaugural 2016 Summer Policy Institute (SPI) will be held July 29-31, 2016 at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon.Students from across West Virginia will be a part of this first-ever event.The first evening of 2016 Summer Policy Institute is free and open to…
At this week's Lunch and Learn, Tara Holmes, our Summer Research Associate, presented the potential benefits to West Virginia if marijuana were to be legalized for medicinal and recreational use in the state. Her research shows that legalizing marijuana for recreational use would bring in between $26 and $45 million a year in tax revenue…
FY 2016 officially came to an end on June 30th, bringing to a close one of the most difficult budget years the state has faced in years. The final revenue report for the fiscal year showed revenue totaling $4.10 billion for the fiscal year, $203 million below the estimate. However, that number was inflated by…
Lunch and Learn - This WednesdaySeveral states will vote this November on whether or not to legalize marijuana. If West Virginia passed such a measure, what would it mean for the state's budget? Find out on Wednesday at our next Lunch and Learn on July 13 from 11:30AM - 1:00PM at the West Virginia Covenant…
After their first attempt did not survive the governor's veto, the legislature finally passed a budget for FY 2017 last week, bringing an end to the budget standoff and an extended special legislative session. While the legislature's previous attempt relied almost entirely on the Rainy Day Fund and one-time transfers, the final version uses a…
After nearly three weeks of a special session, the legislature finally passed a budget for FY 2017 last week. However, it did not pass any of the revenue measures proposed by the governor to close the budget's $270 million gap, instead deciding to close it by relying heavily on the Rainy Day Fund and other…
Yesterday, the Labor Department issued its final rule updating overtime regulations, which will automatically extend overtime protections to millions of workers in its first year of implementation. The rule extends overtime protections to workers earning less than $913 per week or $47,476 annually for a full-time worker, and established a mechanism to update the threshold every three…