After promises last legislative session that HB 2014, the so-called Power Generation and Consumption Act, would make West Virginia “the most attractive state in the country for data centers“, lawmakers are back with a new package of tax incentives for data centers (along with manufacturers and other big corporations). HB 4013 would give major tax cuts to these…
Budget Beat
Action is needed to preserve child labor protections in West Virginia that keep our kids safe. HB 4005 passed the House Government Organization Committee and is now headed to the full House of Delegates. This bill would eliminate state rules that define which jobs are too dangerous for minors and remove requirements for direct supervision when…
In West Virginia and across the country, families are facing an affordability crisis, one where the costs of life’s necessities are rising faster than wages. This is impacting many households’ ability to create a better, or even similar, life to the one their parents had. There are many ways policymakers could meaningfully address these challenges…
In early January, state lawmakers will return to Charleston with one task they are required to complete each legislative session: passing a balanced state budget. This process will be particularly challenging in the new year, happening amid declining state revenues from deep state tax cuts and a slowing economy, a looming budget deficit, and significant new safety net costs shifted onto…
If Congress fails to act before December 31, the enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs) that millions across the country depend on to afford their health insurance through the ACA Marketplace will expire, resulting in massive premium spikes and inaccessible care. For independent contractors, gig workers, self-employed West Virginians, and employees whose jobs do not offer…
This week, reporter Steven Allen Adams of Ogden newspapers confirmed what many had been hearing in recent days: Gov. Patrick Morrisey inexplicably wants to call the Legislature into a special session mere weeks before the regular session to muscle through a deeply regressive tax and budget plan. The tradeoff, reportedly, is even deeper cuts to a state…
Each year the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy releases our annual State of Working West Virginia report, which examines the Mountain State’s economy through the lens of its workers—the people who power our state and economy. While each year’s report has a slightly different focus, one consistent theme is the need to ask this simple question:…
As the government shutdown drags on, the focus in Washington is on political gamesmanship. But here in West Virginia, the consequences are dangerously real. One in 6 West Virginians rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to help put food on the table. That’s more than 270,000 of our friends and neighbors, including nearly 100,000…
Due to a combination of factors, including declining student enrollment, expired pandemic-era federal relief funding, the growing Hope Scholarship, and an outdated funding formula, public schools across West Virginia have less funding and resources to meet the needs of their students and communities. This has culminated in a new wave of school closures. Over the…
If you scroll through social media or watch the news, you’ll see our members of Congress and special interest groups practically begging West Virginians to believe that the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” (HR 1) is good for us. But West Virginians know a bad deal when we see one. This legislation takes away health care…