Today the Governor officially ordered Workforce WV to begin drug testing those enrolled in job training programs (see below press release). What was not mentioned was that these programs are completely funded by federal dollars and that they mostly go to the "disadvantaged and at-risk youth, adults, and dislocated workers." However, the big question is…
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West Virginia could lose tens of thousands of jobs over the next five years if Congress enacts the major cuts to Medicaid as proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan and passed by the House of Representatives last month. According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, the $544 billion in Medicaid cuts in the Ryan Budget over…
Here is an interesting, if troubling blog post from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. The post shows that low-wage workers (those making less than $10.00 an hour in 2011 dollars) are becoming more educated. In every state across the country, low wage workers are more educated than they were thirty years ago, meaning that…
The big news yesterday was that the South Charleston stamping plant has been leased by Gestamp, a Spanish automotive stamping company. According to reports, Gestamp could eventually employ 700 workers. Gestamp chose South Charleston for several reasons, but mainly it was because the plant already contained necessary stamping equipment which allows it to be occupied immediately. The…
Over the last 20 years, West Virginia has made substantial progress in reducing the state income taxes paid by families living in poverty. In 1990, the state income tax threshold (the point at which residents begin to pay state income taxes) on families of four living at the federal poverty line was $8,000 compared to…
Our friends at the CBPP have released a new report today debunking the "Texas economic miracle" of the Great Recession. The report lists several factors for why Texas has weathered the recession better than most states. Two of these factors, including a lack of a housing bubble and above average employment in natural resource extraction,…
Earlier this week, Ted blogged about coal prices, and suggested that coal prices are not strongly influenced by state policy, and instead are set regionally. This would mean that differences in state taxes on coal production do not play a large role in the price of coal. The below chart shows the average price of coal for West…
In the debate over the federal government's recent budget deficits, many are arguing that government spending over the last couple of years has been out of control. However, the numbers show that is just not true. This chart looks compares the average annual growth rate of government spending by decade since the 1950s. And as…
Robert Semple writes convincingly that gas prices are not set by Presidents, but are set in a global market, and that they are beyond the control of any one country. As Dean Baker pointed out last week, "Oil prices in the United States depend on the world market, not just supply and demand in the…
Today's news that Shell Oil Company has chosen a site in Pennsylvania as the location for their new cracker facility comes after months of competition between PA, WV, and OH over which state would land the cracker, with each state offering a variety of incentives. (A "cracker facility" converts ethane from natural gas liquids into more profitable chemicals…