This evening the State Senate passed a bill that would make significant changes to our state's campaign election laws by increasing the amount of money people can contribute to political campaigns. Under Senate Bill 541, the cap for campaign individual contributions would increase from $1,000 to $2,700 per election cycle, matching the amount that federal…
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Last week, the State Senate passed a bill (SB 559) that would except DHHR social workers from the requirement to be licensed by the West Virginia Board of Social Work. According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services, this bill aims to get more people to apply for positions within Child Protective…
West Virginia's legislature is moving forward with a costly and ineffective bill targeted at only the poorest West Virginians. The bill, SB 348, would create a three-county pilot program to begin drug testing recipients of cash assistance (a.k.a. WV Works/ TANF). The costs of the drug screening would be deducted from the TANF recipients' monthly check…
by Betty Rivard and Ted Boettner West Virginia has been targeted by a number of conservative groups to adopt a resolution calling on Congress to convene a constitutional convention of the states, with the goal of adopting a balanced budget amendment (BBA). Opponents from across the full political spectrum are alarmed that a convention of…
On Tuesday, Governor Tomblin announced at a bi-partisan press conference that he is proposing to transfer $44 million from the teacher's retirement account (TERS) to help close an estimated $195 million gap in the FY 2016 state budget.The state is able to use the $44 million from TERS, according to the governor, because the investment returns…
Just a month into peak flu season, the CDC has already declared a national epidemic due to the flu's widespread activity and the deadly nature of this year's virus. West Virginia is no exception. The outbreak is considered widespread across our state, as you can see from the the map below. While preventing the spread of the…
Earlier, I showed how it's nearly impossible for the prevailing wage to add 25% to the cost of public construction projects, like opponents to the law claim, even if you assume that the prevailing wage is nearly 50% higher than average wages in the construction sector. But let's take a closer look at that 50% claim.…
Yesterday, Governor Tomblin announced that the business franchise tax will be fully eliminated beginning tomorrow (Jan 1). While the governor says the elimination of the business franchise tax and the reduction in the corporate net income tax has helped to "secure additional investments" and that the state has benefited from these changes, there is no…
As Ted pointed out after the election, changes to West Virginia's prevailing wage law are likely going to be one of the priorities of the legislature's new Republican majority. New Senate President Bill Cole was a lead sponsor of a bill to repeal the state's prevailing wage law, and the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce is…
As the legislature considers repealing the state's prevailing wage for public construction projects, it is important to recognize that it could further depress wages. This is especially true for male workers, who typically hold over 90 percent of construction jobs. Since the late 1970s, male hourly wages have declined by more than $3 in West…