The 2019 Legislative Session ended this past Saturday. Overall, it was one of the more successful legislative sessions in recent years, all things considered. There were also a string of disappointments along with some surprising victories and the defeat of many bad bills. Reducing Food Insecurity (HB 2459): West Virginia was just one of three…
Budget Beat
Wednesday's Crossover Day at the WV Legislature saw the demise of HB 3136, a bill that would have taken Medicaid coverage away from people who do not meet new work reporting requirements. Most Medicaid recipients who can work are already working- 68% of non-disabled adults on Medicaid in West Virginia are in working families. As…
95,000 low-income West Virginians are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage. Contact your delegates in the West Virginia House and ask them to oppose HB 3136, a bill that originated in the House Finance Committee this week, quickly making it to the House floor for first reading today. This risky and untested proposal to take…
The big news out of Charleston continues to be on the education front, with changes to the Senate's omnibus education reform bill (SB451) making it all the way through the House committee and amendment process, despite several attempts to put harmful measures back in the legislation. Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) were removed in the House…
The nearly six-fold increase in West Virginia's natural gas production in the last decade, due largely to shale development, or fracking, has fallen short of expectations for economic growth, job creation, and tax revenue generation, according to a new report released by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and the West Virginia…
After a roller coaster week, the Senate's omnibus reform bill, SB 451, is currently on second reading before the full Senate with likely passage next week. The bill links teacher raises, promised by Governor Jim Justice, to a whole host of other issues, including controversial Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). Simply put, this voucher-like program would…
Social Security Tax Cut Would Mostly Favor the Wealthy In his State of the State address, Governor Jim Justice proposed the elimination of the personal income tax on Social Security income. Justice's proposal, S.B 342, would completely exclude Social Security benefits from the state income tax, similar to how the state treats military retirement income.…
On Wednesday, legislators, community partners and concerned citizens took part in the 6th Annual Budget Breakfast for an overview of Governor Jim Justice's proposed budget. Those who would benefit from the governor's proposed tax cuts are largely high-wage earners, leaving low-wage families to continue to pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes. Here…
The 2019 Legislative Session has just begun and Governor Jim Justice released his proposed budget and stated his funding priorities for the upcoming fiscal year in his State of the State speech on Wednesday. While promising to give state employees and school workers another five-percent raise, he also wants to eliminate the industrial property tax…
West Virginia's sixty-day legislative session starts Wednesday, January 9. Stay tuned to Budget Beat each Friday as we bring you a recap of the week's legislative developments, from the governor's state of state address on Wednesday night, to the fate of key pieces of legislation, to the discussion of the budget proposed for the upcoming…