Our new fact sheet highlights how SNAP restrictions harm vulnerable populations that face barriers to work, negatively impact retailers, and increase demand on the state's charitable food sector. Read the full fact sheet here. Excerpt below: Overview The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is the most powerful anti-hunger tool…
Budget Beat
The 2024 West Virginia regular legislative session kicked off this past Wednesday, January 10. WVCBP executive director, Kelly Allen, issued the following statement in response to Governor Justice’s State of the State address: Unfortunately, the rosy picture Governor Justice painted is not the reality for many West Virginians in counties all over the state who’ve seen too…
The vast majority of school-age children in West Virginia attend and receive their education through the public school system, and West Virginia’s state constitution requires "a thorough and efficient system of free schools." But a growing Hope Scholarship voucher program is diverting public resources away from the public education system and the nearly 250,000 children…
WVCBP executive director Kelly Allen recently met with the Dominion Post Editorial Board to explain how the Justice administration has set the state up for budgetary crisis in the coming years. You can read an excerpt from the Dominion Post's editorial below: Unlike many other states, the governor of West Virginia has the constitutional power to set…
For the first four months of FY 2024, West Virginia’s General Revenue collections are down $210.7 million compared to the same period in FY 2023, despite the state exceeding the fairly modest revenue estimates set by the Governor Justice administration in an effort to maintain a ‘flat budget.’ The combination of self-inflicted tax cuts and a collapse…
The WVCBP is excited to welcome Krysta Rexrode Wolfe to the team as our new operations and event coordinator! Before joining the WVCBP staff, Krysta served the state by leading faith communities in Morgantown and Charleston. Krysta brings a decade of administrative experience and a passion for advocacy to her work. She holds a B.A.…
West Virginia's child welfare system is in crisis. Currently, the Mountain State places four times as many children per capita in the foster care system as the United States as a whole. West Virginia permanently terminates parental rights faster and more often than any other state in the country. While the child welfare system is…
Each year the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy releases its annual State of Working West Virginia report, which examines West Virginia's economy through the lens of its workers—the people who power our state and our economy. While each year's report has a slightly different focus, one consistent theme is the need to ask this simple…
Since 2015, West Virginia prisons have sent more than $57.1 million out of state to pay for food served in its prisons. Privatizing prison food has resulted in poorer food quality and worse health outcomes. A 2022 class-action lawsuit filed against the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) alleged unconstitutional conditions of confinement, including the serving of…
In March 2023, the Charleston City Council approved a $111.6 million budget for the 2024 fiscal year. Once again, the city dedicated one-fifth of its budget ($23.0 million) to uniformed Charleston Police officers for wages, benefits, pensions, insurance, and equipment. Of the $12.3 million budgeted for wages, $2.6 million was allocated for overtime pay. High…