Tim Keefe is a Navy veteran who lost his job after an injury. Due to SNAP's 20-hour rule, he lost his food-assistance benefits and was unable to eat. Hear his story in this two-minute video produced by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Seeing Past the False Promises of Tax Incentives Missouri and Kansas…
Budget Beat
Governor Justice once again drew attention to a strong quarter of personal income growth for the state, with West Virginia having the highest 2019 Quarter 1 personal income growth in the country. But, as was the case the last time the governor highlighted this particular statistic, there is more to the story than one quarter's…
The West Virginia House of Delegates will go into a special session on Monday to take up an education omnibus bill passed by the Senate, a bill with many of the same provisions that the House defeated during the regular session. What has been missing from previous discussions of these policies is the connection between…
As West Virginia legislators reconvene soon to take up education reform, they should focus on ways to invest more in our schools and target more funding to schools in higher poverty districts instead of devising ways to redistribute public school money to private corporations. In 2017, West Virginia spent less per pupil on public education…
West Virginia Joins 48 Other States in Repealing SNAP Ban This week legislation went into effect in West Virginia that lifts the ban on SNAP (food stamps) benefits for those convicted of a drug felony. Now only two states have the ban. An estimated 15,000 West Virginians will now be eligible for this federal program…
With a special session targeting education reform expected in the near future, controversial policies like charter schools and Education Savings Accounts (ESA) are likely to be part of the legislative agenda. A deeper dive into Scholarship Tax Credits, a possible substitute for ESAs, shows that they are likely to benefit wealthy people more than low-…
The Working Families Tax Relief Act would boost incomes for 131,000 moms and 276,000 children in West Virginia by expanding the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). The benefits of lifting families out of poverty include healthier birth weights, lower maternal stress, better childhood nutrition, higher school enrollment, higher reading…
In March 2019, West Virginia lawmakers passed Senate Bill 564 to raise the Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women to 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) while guaranteeing coverage for 60-days postpartum. By aligning West Virginia with current state trends and closing a health insurance gap, this policy will provide coverage for hundreds of…
West Virginia has the 4th-highest child poverty rate in the country. Children living in poverty face lower educational achievement, maltreatment and other obstacles that affect them for the rest of their lives. Reducing child poverty has a price tag less than recent tax cuts for corporations and would do more to benefit the families of…
The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy is partnering with the West Virginia Council of Churches on Strength in Stability, a digital project telling the stories of West Virginians who were empowered by the security they found by receiving benefits from programs like SNAP and Medicaid. We tell the success stories of those who…