Blog

December 12, 2012 by Sean O'Leary
“Economic Freedom” Index Fails to Predict Economic Performance

Last week, an article in the Daily Mail noted that West Virginia once again ranks poorly in an economic index, this time the Economic Freedom of North America 2012 index, created by the Fraser Institute.  According to the study, West Virginia is one of the least economically free states in the country, and that economic freedom increases affluence.…

Read More
December 11, 2012 by Sean O'Leary
Eliminating the Personal Property Tax: Part 2 – What’s at Stake for Counties

(continued from Part 1 published 11/28/12) In FY 2012, the personal property tax produced over an estimated $122 million for the 55 county governments in West Virginia, accounting for more than 30 percent of all county property tax revenue. And since property taxes account for 63 percent of county government revenue, that means the personal property…

Read More
December 6, 2012 by Sean O'Leary
Collective Bargaining Agreements and Work Sharing

At a recent interim committee meeting regarding creating a work sharing program in West Virginia, concerns were raised over potential conflicts between work sharing and collective bargaining agreements. Fortunately, these concerns are easily addressed, and do not pose a hurdle for the creation of a work sharing program in West Virginia. Work sharing allows employers, in…

Read More
December 5, 2012 by WVCBP
Medicaid Expansion Can Save West Virginia Millions

Expanding Medicaid to 130,000 West Virginians would provide $281 million in uncompensated care savings, according to a new report by the Urban Institute. Taking these savings into account, the total cost of expanding Medicaid in the state would by only $338 million or just $33.8 million per year over the next ten years (2013-2022). This…

Read More
December 2, 2012 by Ted Boettner
New York Times Report: WV Ranks 2nd Highest in Business Subsidies

Today, the New York Times had an in-depth front page article exposing the $80 billion state and local governments bankroll businesses each year in subsides, including low-interest loans, grants, tax credits, and other gifts through the tax code. The report finds that West Virginia spends $1.57 billion per year on business incentives, ranking the state…

Read More
November 28, 2012 by Sean O'Leary
Eliminating the Personal Property Tax: A Blog Series – Part 1

It seems every year, proposals are floated to remove West Virginia's property tax on business personal property or personal property in general. My first report with the WVCBP looked at the fiscal impact of eliminating the property tax on business machinery, equipment, inventory, and other business personal property, as recommended by then Governor Manchin back in 2010. In that…

Read More
November 27, 2012 by Ted Boettner
Recent Severance Taxes Projections Should Not Deter Establishment of Future Fund

Yesterday, Mark Muchow, the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Revenue, presented at November Legislative Interims on the future of state severance taxes. In his presentation (Severance Tax Trends -November 26, 2012), he found that severance taxes are going to decline and stagnant over the next few years because the boom in shale natural gas…

Read More
November 26, 2012 by Ted Boettner
What Does Raising the Social Security Retirement Age Mean for West Virginia?

As part of the "fiscal cliff" and "grand bargain" deficit negotiations, some CEOs, politicians, and pundits are saying that raising the retirement age of Social Security should be on the deficit chopping block despite the fact that it does not contribute to the federal budget deficit. Raising the retirement age is usually premised on the…

Read More
November 25, 2012 by Ted Boettner
Is West Virginia’s “Skills Gap” Really a Wage Gap?

We often hear that one of the state's biggest economic problems is a skills mismatch. More specifically, we are told that manufacturing firms in the state cannot find enough qualified workers and that this is holding up our state's economic recovery. The problem with this argument, as we've pointed out before, is that it is…

Read More
November 20, 2012 by Sean O'Leary
Not All Parts of Fiscal Cliff Are Created Equal

In this month's edition of Jobs Count, I looked at the Congressional Budget Office's report on the employment and GDP effects of the fiscal cliff. The CBO report spells out how many jobs lost and how much GDP would be reduced for each deficit reducing policy that is a part of the fiscal cliff. Overall,…

Read More