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,…
Budget Beat
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,…
Funding Cuts Restored This week, the legislature voted to fully restore funding cuts to family-support programs that Governor Tomblin had vetoed in March. Governor Tomblin has said he will sign the legislation this time around. Support in the House of Delegates was unanimous, with a vote of 90-0. In reversing course, the governor and legislators…
Some Funding Cuts Restored This week, Governor Tomblin announced that he would restore one-time funding to some of the family-support programs that were impacted by his veto in March. While he did restore $260,000, this falls far short of the $1 million in funding passed by the legislature. The Our Children Our Future campaign will…
West Virginia One of Just Eight States Still Cutting Funding for Higher Education Now that the recession is in the past, most states are restoring funding to higher education. West Virginia, however, is still reducing funding, second only to Wyoming, spending 21.6% less per student in FY 2014 than in FY2008, a reduction of over…