The cost of prescription drugs is one of the leading health care issues in the United States, accounting for $335 billion of total health care spending in 2018 and over 23 percent of total health insurance premium costs. And the cost of prescription drugs is rising. The cost of prescription drugs is one of the…
Budget Beat
This year marks the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, a holiday that celebrates the end of slavery when word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Galveston, Texas. This historic day perhaps takes on even more significance as our nation continues to protest the recent murders of Black people at the hands of police and vigilantes. For…
According to WorkForce West Virginia, West Virginia lost 90,100 jobs in April, as the COVID-19 pandemic and the response to it rocked the state's economy. Since the end of March, 157,807 West Virginians have filed for unemployment insurance. This week, the Department of Labor released data on the characteristics of those who filed unemployment claims…
In a previous email this week, the WVCBP staff and board released our statement to express our commitment our solidarity to those fighting for racial justice. Our conclusion stated that we stand in solidarity with Black-led organizations across our state including Our Future WV, CARE, NAACP, Black Lives Matter WV, and the Partnership for African…
While COVID-19 is having wide-ranging impacts on every corner of our society, no one is more impacted by this crisis than women, particularly women of color. Women dominate the industries most affected by the pandemic, including making up two-thirds of frontline workers in West Virginia and the majority of employees in industries who've seen job…
In some good news this week, we are excited to welcome two new staff members to our team! Quenton King is our new Criminal Justice Policy Analyst. Before joining WVCBP, Quenton worked for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Environmental and Climate Justice Program as a field organizer and policy specialist. Most…
The pressure on the state budget from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic fallout continues to mount. In April, state revenue collections were $192 million below estimates, setting the stage for what could be a total $500 million shortfall by the end of the fiscal year. Moreover, recent economic projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggest that…
It has been well demonstrated that jails and prisons are incubators and amplifiers of diseases and infections because of the tight quarters of correctional facilities. This makes combatting the Coronavirus through "social distancing" and other measures nearly impossible. To that end, West Virginia has taken some measures to slow the spread of the Coronavirus within…
Earlier this week, Governor Jim Justice unveiled his plan for reopening West Virginia's businesses, dubbed "The Comeback." Among the businesses slated to open first under his plan are day care centers, restaurants, and professional services including hair and nail salons. West Virginians who work in these sectors will be among the first back to work…
Much of the conversation on record job losses in West Virginia over the past five weeks has centered on our state's unemployment insurance system, and with good reason. According to Governor Justice and WorkForce WV, at least 130,000 residents have filed initial unemployment claims since school closures and stay-at-home orders began, and that figure does…