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…
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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…
Last week, Governor Tomblin issued a proclamation to call the legislature into a special session to address the state's impeding budget crisis on Monday. This announcement came on the heels of a recent downgrade in the state's bond rating from Standard & Poor's Rating Service. Due to a lack of consensus between the legislature (mostly the…
Last week, Governor Tomblin finally issued the call for the legislature to come back into a special session to balance the FY 2017 budget. The special session will begin today, May 16th, and the governor will once again submit a budget proposal for the legislature to consider.During the regular session, Governor Tomblin proposed $130 million in…
Earlier today, Delegate Patrick Lane issued a press release calling for more budget cuts as the solution to West Virginia's budget gap. As part of his argument, Delegate Lane made the misleading claim that the state's general revenue fund has grown by $564 million in 5 years, which is a reflection of "unchecked" government spending.However,…
West Virginia's economy has not been faring well lately, with reports indicating the state has slipped back into a recession. Nationally, the economy has seen some relatively strong performances recently, but low energy prices and declining coal production have hurt mining states like West Virginia. Here a some indicators demonstrating the state's weakening economy.West Virginia's…
While some have blamed the state's budget crisis on the decline of coal severance taxes, declining natural gas severance taxes are also taking their toll. The decline in mineral extraction, along with a weak economy and major tax cuts phased in between 2006 and 2015, is the central driver of the state's weak revenue growth…
Lunch and LearnJoin the WVCBP and the WV Covenant House on Monday, April 11 for Lunch and Learn!Bring your lunch and join us from 11:30AM - 1:00PM in a discussion about a balanced budget approach that includes an investment in shared prosperity. Lunch and Learn will take place at the WV Covenant House office on…
On Tuesday, Governor Tomblin revised his estimates for the FY 2017 General Revenue Fund Budget. Since the legislature failed to pass the state budget during the regular session, the governor is expected to call a special session sometime this Spring to pass a budget for FY 2017. Altogether, the FY 2017 revised revenue estimates for the…