SCORE Initiative Announced Yesterday at the state Capitol, Senate President Jeff Kessler announced the kick-off of his SCORE initiative, Southern Coalfields Organizing and Revitalizing the Economy. In a statement released yesterday, Senator Kessler cited these goals for SCORE: Increase funding for tourism advertising and development Education and workforce development and retraining initiatives Dedicating monies for…
Budget Beat
Registration Now Open: Summit on Race Matters in Appalachia The WVCBP is a proud sponsor of the Summit on Race Matters in Appalachia, taking place November 10 & 11 in Charleston. You won't want to miss the Summit's two amazing keynote speakers: Dr. Gail Christopher with the Kellogg Foundation, and Michael Wenger, author of My…
West Virginians Working Harder, Pay Not Keeping Up West Virginia's economy is recovering from the Great Recession but low- and middle-income workers not are seeing similar growth in their paychecks, according to the annual State of Working West Virginia, released this week, by the American Friends Service Committee and the WVCBP. Incomes remain stagnant for…
More on Last Week's Poverty Numbers: Rich Getting Richer Last week 's data on poverty in West Virginia showed that the number of children and families living in poverty is still too high. What we also learned is that the state's economy is starting to grow again, post-recession, but it's the wealthiest in the state…
Poverty Numbers Out This Week Show Stubbornly High Poverty Rate for West Virginia While its economy has recovered from the Great Recession, West Virginia's people still face an uphill climb in terms of getting out of poverty. Nearly one in five in the state lives in poverty, including one in three young (under the age…
Our Children Our Future Policy Symposium Brings Together Hundreds from Across the State The WVCBP was proud to be a partner in the Our Children Our Future Policy Symposium this past week in Charleston. Hundreds of leaders and activists from social advocacy organizations, faith-based groups, government agencies, schools and universities, and families and young people…
Increase in Minimum Wage Helps Working Families Fast-food workers calling for a higher wage brought the minimum wage debate back into the headlines this week. During the 2014 Legislative Session, West Virginia lawmakers approved a $1.50 an hour raise phased in over two years but there is a national movement to increase it to $10.10…
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…
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…