Last week, the WV Center on Budget and Policy held our fourth annual Summer Policy Institute, which gathered over 40 students from around the state to strengthen their policy knowledge and network with policy professionals. This year's SPI was held at West Virginia State University in Institute, West Virginia, with a theme of criminal justice…
Budget Beat
At our 4th annual Summer Policy Institute this weekend at West Virginia State University, students will focus on criminal justice reform and developing policy recommendations to reduce incarceration rates and develop alternatives to incarceration. Check out these two events live on Facebook on Saturday, July 27: 9:00 - 10:15AM Panel: We Can Get There From…
Help West Virginia Get an Accurate Census Count The 2020 Census is just around the corner with a goal of counting every West Virginia resident. The Census determines how much political representation we get at the state and federal levels and how much federal investment comes to West Virginia for programs that fund highways, school…
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…
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…