Budget Beat

Budget Beat - September 6, 2013 Brighter Future Conference Draws Diverse Crowd Business and labor leaders, policymakers, scientists and advocates from across the state gathered in Charleston on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Brighter Future conference. Panelists from a wide variety of organizations discussed West Virginia's economic future and how to prepare the state for…

Budget Beat for August 30, 2013 What's Good for Natural Gas May Not Be Good for Coal Natural gas production in West Virginia is expected to grow rapidly. As lawmakers plan for the future they may learn that policies for coal and gas may be at odds with each other. Read more in Sean's blog…

Budget Beat - August 23, 2013 Health Care Costs Rising, But Not As Quickly Health care costs continue to rise but at a slower rate than in the past, this according to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. In fact, annual increases in health care are at their lowest levels since the 1960s.…

Budget Beat - August 16, 2013 How Healthy is Your County? Where you live matters when it comes to your health. This week the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a report that ranks all the counties in the nation in terms of health factors. One of the least healthiest counties in the nation is McDowell…

Budget Beat - August 9, 2013 Nonprofit Hospitals With Large Profits West Virginia's ten largest nonprofit hospitals had $227 million in net profit in 2011 while having tax-exempt status and paying their CEOs six-figure salaries. In his blog post this week, Brandon introduces possible ways these hospitals could contribute financially to the local communities that…

Budget Beat - August 2, 2013 Evidence Counts - Households Have Higher Debt than Federal Government This fall Congress will need to raise the federal debt ceiling likely starting the inevitable comparison between government and household debt. Ted's blog post this week looks into why this analogy does not look at the full picture and…

Budget Beat - July 26, 2013 Evidence Counts - SNAP Benefits Important to West Virginia The House of Representatives has passed a Farm Bill without SNAP (food stamp) benefits. If this bill becomes law it will affect low-income families in West Virginia who relies on the benefits to help them make ends meet. One in…

Budget Beat - July 12, 2013 What Do Immigration and Health Care Reform Mean to West Virginia? The fall-out from the Obama administration's decision to delay the employer mandate continued in the media this week. Brandon's blog post pointed out that those saying the delays are a sign the ACA is seriously flawed are the…

Budget Beat - July 5, 2013 Evidence Counts - ObamaRomneyCare, Student Debt, and Inefficient Tax Cuts The Obama Administration this week decided to delay the mandate in the Affordable Care Act which would require employers to provide health care for their employees or face penalties. Since this affects only those companies with 50 or more…

Unemployment rates in West Virginia's counties range from 5% to 12%. What is the unemployment rate in your county? Find out in this interactive graph in Sean's blog post this week. This week the West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner released its report on how the insurance exchange, created as part of the Affordable…