Blog

December 31, 2014 by Ted Boettner
Corporate Tax Cuts Haven’t Brought Prosperity to West Virginia

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…

Read More
December 29, 2014 by Sean O'Leary
Savings From Reforming Prevailing Wage Laws Might Be A Tad Overstated

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…

Read More
December 16, 2014 by Ted Boettner
Is it a Good Time to Reduce Male Wages in West Virginia?

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…

Read More
November 19, 2014 by Ted Boettner
7 Things You Need to Know About Why Coal is Declining in West Virginia (4 of 7)

In the last post, we looked at how West Virginia - especially southern West Virginia -  is being out-competed by other coal regions because of the decline in coal mining productivity that makes it cheaper to produce coal in places like Illinois and Wyoming. Not only do West Virginia coal producers face stiff competition from…

Read More
November 12, 2014 by Ted Boettner
What Does the Election Mean for State Economic Policy in West Virginia?

Last week, to many people's surprise, West Virginia's legislature flipped from blue to red with the GOP picking up 18 seats in the House of Delegates and eight seats in the State Senate. It appears that Mercer County State Senator and car dealership owner Bill Cole will become the new Senate President and that current…

Read More
November 7, 2014 by Sean O'Leary
How the Marcellus Boom Masked West Virginia’s Tax Cut Problems

Earlier this week, the state's monthly revenue report was released, which keeps track of the various taxes that make up the state's General Revenue Fund. For October, the General Revenue Fund was up $5 million over the estimate, a pretty good month. This was largely due to severance taxes, which came in at $38.1 million…

Read More
October 31, 2014 by Sean O'Leary
Just How Arbitrary is the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index?

The 2015 edition of the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index came out earlier this week. West Virginia ranked 21st this year, showing improvement improvement over the past several years. And while some in the state put a lot of stock in our rank, we should know by now that the index is nothing more than a…

Read More
October 30, 2014 by WVCBP
Congress Should Treat America’s Kids to Good Health Care and Refund CHIP

Want a real scare this Halloween? Imagine having to pay up to ten times more on average for your children's health care. This is the increased cost estimate if Congress does not reauthorize funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), according to a study commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The CHIP program provides…

Read More