If the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a lower court's decision, the entirety of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could be invalidated (though it would almost assuredly go before the Supreme Court for a final decision before action is taken). Twenty million Americans, including 162,000 West Virginians, stand to lose their health care coverage…
Budget Beat
What if we used the wealth from our natural resources to invest in a brighter future for West Virginians instead of sending that wealth out of state? Our new video out this week shows all the investments we could make in our people and communities if the natural gas severance tax was raised. This tax…
A Payment in Lieu of Tax (PILOT) agreement is a property tax abatement where a company (sometimes a non-profit) agrees to make annual payments to local governments instead of paying the property taxes it would normally owe. Usually these payments are just a fraction of what otherwise would have been paid over the time of…
On a beautiful day yesterday in Summersville, West Virginia, over 100 people from across the state and beyond came together for the second annual Food For All coalition meeting. Participants briefly celebrated victories from 2019 and then got to work planning a bold vision to make Food for All a reality in West Virginia through…
Earlier this year, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma and the Trump Administration began encouraging states to apply for "block grant" waivers for their Medicaid programs. These waivers would allow states to bypass federal standards and beneficiary protections in exchange for agreeing to caps on the federal Medicaid funding they receive.…
Earlier this year, Governor Justice, as well as the Chamber of Commerce celebrated the fact that West Virginia had the nation's highest personal income growth in country in the first quarter of 2019, using the single data point as proof that their preferred policies were growing the economy. In fact, the Chamber of Commerce went…
Please take a moment to comment on a proposed change to a key SNAP (food stamps) rule which, if implemented, would take away basic food assistance from an estimated 3.1 million people, mainly working families with children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. The SNAP proposal would take over $19 million annually out of our state…
U.S. Census data out this week show gains in health care coverage in West Virginia since the passage of Obamacare have stalled. Despite the state's positive job growth in 2018, the was no reduction in the number of uninsured West Virginians. With an estimated 114,000 West Virginians without health coverage, it is imperative that policymakers…
While West Virginia's economy is improving and some industries are growing, most of the growth it tied to temporary natural gas pipeline construction. In order to get a clear picture of West Virginia's jobs picture, it is imperative to use the employment data correctly and not to inflate numbers or link them to policies that…
Wage theft is one of the most prevalent but under-reported problems confronting low-wage workers. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the estimated value of wages stolen through violations of federal and state minimum wage laws was $15 billion in 2015, easily eclipsing the $12.7 billion stolen through all reported robberies, burglaries, larcenies, and car thefts…