Income Tax Cuts for Wealthy Unlikely To Boost West Virginia Economy As the legislative committee charged with overhauling the state's tax system continues its regular meetings, concerns continue over what recommendations will emerge from this process. Reducing or outright eliminating the state's personal income tax has been a regular topic of discussion before the committee.…
Budget Beat
How Will Tax Overhaul Affect West Virginia Counties? As state legislators consider an overhaul of the state's tax system, some of the most concerned onlookers are local and county officials. This week some of them spoke publicly about being able to maintain services and funding for schools while facing a cut in revenue, especially when…
Second Meeting Held to Look at Tax Overhaul The history of West Virginia's previous efforts to overhaul its tax system and an overview of tax breaks going back over 100 years were on Monday's agenda of the Joint Select Committee of Tax Reform. Speakers included Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss and Deputy Secretary Mark Muchow at…
Tax Reform for the People April 15 is right around the corner and whether you are expecting a refund or writing that check, it's a good time to reflect on the mind-bending systems called our tax code. The federal income tax is progressive, meaning that it doesn't unfairly and disproportionately tax low-income people. West Virginia's…
2016 Budget Becomes Law After making several line-item vetos, on Monday Governor Tomblin signed the 2016 budget bill into law. As we mentioned last week, legislators made changes to the budget bill, including increasing the amount borrowed from the state's Rainy Day fund to about $23 million to balance the budget. The governor's vetos, however,…
Hits and Misses of 2015 Legislative Session Midnight on Saturday marked the final moment of the 2015 Legislative Session. With new leadership in both the Senate and House of Delegates, there were a lot of initiatives introduced that we have been following with you over the past 60 days. Here's a recap: Good News While…
Senate Passes SCR 13 ~ Calls for a Convention of the States to Pass Balanced Budget Amendment After debate in the Senate Judiciary and Finance Committees, as well as on the Senate floor, the Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 13 yesterday on a voice vote. The measure now moves to the House. If passed,…
Make or Break Time With Just a Week to Go The 2015 Legislation Session is in the home stretch with time running out to pass legislation. We are happy to report that the bill to drug test recipients of TANF benefits is dead. This expensive and inefficient program would have been an unnecessary expense for…
Legislative Session Enters Crunch Time With March right around the corner, and cross-over day looming, time is running out for legislation to pass during the 2015 Legislation Session. Here's a quick recap on keys issues we've been following: Legislation to gut the current Prevailing Wage is now under consideration by the House after a compromise…
Bill to Drug Test TANF Recipients Passes First Committee The 2015 Legislative Session is now more than halfway over and there are several measures we are keeping an eye on that would impact West Virginia's working families. Yesterday the House held a public hearing on legislation that would require drug testing of Temporary Assistant to…