Tomorrow in the House Chamber Legislators have begun their consideration of five pieces of legislation that would call upon Congress to hold a Constitutional Convention. The bills are HB 4449, HB 2424, SCR 4, SCR 10 and HCR 36. Supreme Court Justices and prominent legal scholars on both sides of the aisle agree there is no…
Budget Beat
This Week at the Capitol: Session at Half-Way Mark "Right-to-Work" and Prevailing Wage On Thursday, Governor Tomblin vetoed both the repeal of the prevailing wage and the Right To Work bill. Today, both the House and Senate voted to override both vetoes. Both measures now become law. Drug Testing On Tuesday, the Senate passed SB…
"Right to Work" and Repeal of Prevailing Wage Both Pass Full Legislature Yesterday, after five hours of debate, the so-called "Right to Work" legislation passed the full House of Delegates with a 54-46 vote. The bill is now in the hands of Governor Tomblin. Also passed yesterday was a bill to repeal the state's prevailing…
Join Us at the Capitol This Week This Thursday, January 28, join us for Kids and Families Day at the state Capitol hosted by the Our Children, Our Future campaign. This is one special day each year when hundreds of everyday kids, families and community leaders make their voices heard. Join us under the Rotunda…
Great Discussion, Free Lunch, What Are You Waiting For? Registration Closes Today! Join us for a free event to learn more about the economic impacts of a West Virginia Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). When: January 11 from 9:30 AM - 2:00 PM Where: Embassy Suites, downtown Charleston Who: Financial education practitioners, researchers and stakeholders,…
The climate change talks in Paris were big news this week, as well as a jury verdict in the Don Blankenship trial. They both have coal in common and the huge role it plays in our local communities and the global stage. When the nation and the world think of West Virginia, coal is as much…
How Much Would a Pro-Work Tax Credit Directly Support Your Community? This week the Invest in Working Families Coalition launched its new website which shows just how much a pro-work tax credit would help hard-working West Virginians. State EITC Coalition Coordinator Seth DiStefano kicks off Monday's event A West Virginia EITC would help more people keep…
Supporting a Movement This week WVCBP staff met up with sister organizations from across the country at the annual State Fiscal Impact Conference in Baltimore. The opening event of the conference was "Support a Movement: Black Lives Matter and State Fiscal Policy." The session focused on the role of public policy in creating and sustaining…
Kanawha County Commission Passes Resolution to Create Jobs in Coalfields After several meetings to take up the issue, last night the Kanawha County Commission unanimously passed a resolution calling for federal action to invest in coalfield communities, which is very similar to the POWER+ Plan included in President Obama's FY 2016 budget. Commissioners in Wyoming,…
Our Latest Spine-Chilling Reports There's been some scary talk about tax overhaul in recent months. One option that appears to be on the table for legislators is eliminating or reducing the business personal property tax. This reliable, constant revenue stream helps maintain West Virginia schools which would be forced to choose between cutting back…