As Ted first pointed out back in August, the 2009 Recovery Act's temporary boost in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits ends on November 1, 2013, which will mean a benefit cut for each of the nearly 48 million SNAP recipients in the country, including 350,000 here in West Virginia. Without the Recovery Act's boost,…
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West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin announced this week that he is working on a bill delaying the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act for one year. On the surface, that sounds like it might be a perfectly fine idea, but here's the rub: it won't work. All in all, even though it may seem…
Another day, another budget presentation that fails to mention the tax cuts that are at the heart of our state budget woes. According to the Gazette, the State Budget Director informed an interim committee that the current budget faces a $80 million shortfall and next year's budget will face a gap of $260 million. This…
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, State Decisions for Creating Health Insurance Marketplaces Almost all of the success in the Obamacare roll out to date has occurred in the dark blue states. Note, West Virginia is not dark blue. On the very same day that the federal government shutdown a few weeks ago, the Obamacare online Marketplace,…
The Charleston Gazette reported this morning that three West Virginia lawmakers are planning a trip to Richmond, Virginia to learn how they recently restructured funding for their ailing transportation system. According to a recent report by the Virginia-based Common Wealth Institute, there are several major flaws with the transportation funding package that was signed into…
More than 1 in 4 workers would be affected - many are full-time workers, the majority are women.
Health care is a funny thing. Everyone needs it, yet lots of people can't afford it, and hospitals have to treat them regardless. Treatment prices vary wildly depending not only on where you live but where you go and whether or not you have insurance. Oddly, those without insurance are almost always charged more for…
As stories of the cost of the federal government's shutdown and its impact on citizens come to light, here's what it means for individuals, businesses, and the state of West Virginia. Toll on Citizens We have all heard the shutdown affects "non-essential" programs, but what does that mean? Programs that provide nutritional assistance for pregnant…
West Virginians rejoice! Rarely does our Mountain State top national rankings on good measures, but a report out this week shows that West Virginia, along with two other states, leads the country in the percent of uninsured state residents who will qualify for health insurance assistance due to Obamacare. Now, before you let your initial partisan reaction…
The Charleston Gazette had another timely editorial on Monday (I've been out of town all week) urging West Virginians to embrace the state's changing energy economy by creating solutions for the ongoing transition. As the chart below highlights, coal production has declined markedly over the last decade while natural gas is at unprecedented levels. As…