Decline of Coal in National Headlines This week the Washington Post featured two articles on the downturn of West Virginia's coal economy. With 10,000 miners losing their jobs in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky in the past two-and-a-half years, and the surge in national gas production, the coal industry's most recent bust might be…
Budget Beat
Welcome to Erin Snyder! The WVCBP welcomed Erin Snyder this week as our new Health Policy Analyst. Erin is a graduate of West Virginia State University has a J.D. from Charlotte School of Law, where she focused on health law. She most recently has worked with Families USA on national health policies and will work…
Register Today to Hold Your Seat at Next Month's Policy Symposium! Registration is open for next month's Our Children Our Future Policy Symposium at the state Capitol in Charleston. Day #1 is September 9 the the Culture Center with a wide variety of policy sessions. On Day #2 we present those policy ideas to legislators…
Greater Fiscal Responsibility is Possible West Virginia should make improvements to the way it estimates revenues in order to create a more fiscally responsible budget, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In the report's evaluation of how states come up with a revenue estimate for the annual budget,…
Ways to Help West Virginia's Working Families Couldn't make it to last month's policy workshops? Find out more about two of our policy priorities on our website where we've posted our presentations from the Clarksburg and Hurricane events. Paid Sick Days Many low-wage workers have to choose between going to work when they are sick…
Our Children Our Future Policy Workshops Joining All Corners of the State This month people from across the state who want to see policy change have come together in Lewisburg, Clarksburg and Hurricane. There is one more Our Children Our Future Policy workshop to go, next week in Martinsburg. With 23 ideas for positive…
Here's Why You Want to Be a Part of This Month's Our Children Our Future Policy Workshops 1. This cool three-minute video. Check it out, you'll feel inspired. 2. You care about the future of West Virginia. And part of that means taking care of the state's workers. We can do a better…
Our Children Our Future Policy Workshops Are Just Around the Corner No matter where you live in West Virginia there is an opportunity for you to get involved in the Our Children Our Future campaign to help bring an end to child poverty. Join us for a day-long training to learn how to make change…
West Virginia Birthday Wishes: Making higher education an affordable possibility for the state's young people: There was disappointing news for college graduates last week as a measure aimed to allow them to refinance their college loan debt at today's lower interest rates was blocked in the U.S. Senate. West Virginia's college grads average $25,000 in…
Coal In Decline Even Without New EPA Rules New EPA rules to cut carbon emissions have dominated the headlines since they were announced. Arguably no state had a stronger negative reaction than West Virginia where the changes are seen as reigniting President Obama's "War on Coal." Coal production has been in decline for years, however,…