With the 2012 election firmly behind us, now is the time to fully implement the Affordable Care Act and ensure that no one in West Virginia is without health care coverage. In 2011, approximately 272,000 West Virginians between the ages of 18 and 64 lacked health coverage. As we highlighted in this recent report, about…
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One of my favorite social scientists, Lane Kenworthy, has a remarkable essay in the latest Foreign Affairs on America's growing opportunity and income inequality gap. Most notably, Kenworthy finds that addressing these twin problems requires different strategies. For example, while investing in early childhood development may help create more economic opportunity over the long-run it…
While policymakers have been somewhat slow to confront the historical and future decline of coal in the state, coal mining executives seem to understand quite well the economic realities facing their industry. As Ken Ward reported last Friday, the CEO of Alpha Natural Resources, Kevin Crutchfield, noted he "expects the region's production of steam coal…
Friday's Daily Mail reported on the state's latest monthly revenue report. The report shows that the state ended October with a $3.8 million surplus over what the budget office had estimated. The surplus was credited to higher than expected corporate income and business franchise tax revenue, which are currently running 21 percent ahead of expectations. However,…
While there has been a lot of debate about how President Obama's environmental policies would hurt West Virginia's coal industry and economy, there has been very little discussion about the impact of Governor Romney and Representative Paul Ryan's proposed policies on the Mountain State. Both Romney and Ryan have proposed drastic changes to federal spending…
A recent article from Governing Magazine shows that West Virginia had the largest increase in income inequality from 2010 to 2011. While West Virginia has traditionally had lower levels of income inequality compared to most states, income inequality in the Mountain State is now nearly the same as the national average. The graph below uses…
With a number of tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year, Congressional Republicans have called for extending one tax cut in particular, while endings improvements in tax credits for millions of low and moderate income working families. As part of the 2009 stimulus bill, several improvements were made to the Earned…
In their 2013 Policy Reports, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce advocates for the creation of a new tax loophole for businesses to avoid paying the state corporate net income and business franchise taxes. The Chamber wants the state to repeal the "sales throw out rule" and ensure that it is not replaced by a "sales…
Recent comments by Mitt Romney about the "47 percent" have prompted discussion about who actually pays taxes and why. Mr. Romney's sentiment was also recently echoed by West Virginia's Representative Shelley Moore Capito at last month's fiscal summit featuring Alan Simpson and Erksine Bowles, when Representative Capito asked about the 47 percent of Americans who…
The projected decline of Central Appalchian coal production is one of the biggest challenges facing the state in the near future. While there are many reasons for the decline, some are irreversible, as much of the easy to reach coal has been mined out. This has prompted a great deal of concern in the state, chiefly regarding the…