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.…
Budget Beat
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…
One year after Governor Justice declared a state of emergency in West Virginia’s Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR), state government took action to address the agency’s high staff vacancies. This week, lawmakers passed a series of bills (SB 1003, SB 1004, SB 1005) that will provide pay raises for correctional officers (COs). Although non-CO…
July’s tax collections continued a concerning trend of declining revenues, even before the 2023 tax cuts have been fully implemented. July’s collections came in 12 percent, or $46 million, below last July’s revenues, barely exceeding fairly modest revenue estimates and creating significant doubt about the current and future availability of revenue to pay for a myriad of…
With the end of West Virginia’s 2023 fiscal year on June 30 came bold declarations about the strength of West Virginia’s economy and its historic revenue surplus. A deeper dive into the state’s tax receipts for the year reveals more of a mixed bag: strong tax receipts in the first half of the year slowing…
Today is the last day of West Virginia's 2023 Fiscal Year. Undoubtedly in the coming days, Governor Justice will tout the so-called revenue "surplus" from this fiscal year, but it cannot be overlooked that a significant portion of that surplus was only made possible due to the Justice Administration intentionally low-balling revenue estimates, thus all…
New SNAP restrictions included in the federal debt ceiling deal will impact West Virginia more severely than any other state on a per capita basis due to the Mountain State’s aging population. Nationwide, nearly 750,000 older adults aged 50-54 will be at risk of losing their food assistance due to these new provisions, including 7,000 in West…