Budget Breakfast - January 22, 2014 The legislative session is just around the corner and that means it's almost time for Governor Tomblin to release his proposed budget. Will there be more budget cuts this year? What programs will bear the brunt? Don't we need to invest more in education if we want to create…
Budget Beat
Thank You for Voting! Future Fund and Higher Minimum Wage Make the Top Five This week many of you voted on the issues you want the Our Children Our Future campaign to focus on during the 2014 Legislative Session. Two of the WVCBP's major initiatives, Increasing the Minimum Wage and Creating a Future Fund, made…
Much of West Virginia Remains Owned by Out-of-State Corporations This week the WV Center on Budget and Policy and the American Friends Service Committee revisited a 1970s study looking at who owns West Virginia's private land. While large out-of-state corporations still own much of the state's land, timber interests, not coal companies, are now the…
Marcellus Job Numbers Are Overestimated According to New Report A new five-state collaborative was announced this week that will study the local impacts of gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica formations. The group, of which the WVCBP is a member, released its first report and launched its website this week. Exaggerating the Employment Impacts…
Fiscal Notes Lacking in Accuracy, Not a Reliable Tool for State Legislators Fiscal notes are intended to give legislators information on the financial impact of a particular bill and how much a new law will cost (or benefit) the state. They are the price tags attached to legislation. But do legislators rely on fiscal notes?…
Another Week, Another Reason Why the State Has a Budget Deficit The number of reasons for West Virginia's budget deficit keeps growing. This week's culprit is a decrease in personal income tax collections which fell almost $8 million below projections. Read more in the Charleston Gazette. Add that to the self-inflicted problem caused by business…
State Will Need More College-Educated Workers for the Future This week the Charleston Gazette ran an editorial on how West Virginia needs to prepare for jobs of the future. Citing the WVCBP's 2013 State of Working West Virginia report, the editorial pointed out that good-paying jobs of the not-so-distant future will require a college education…
In response to the bumpy roll-out of the Obamacare website, Senator Joe Manchin is promoting a delay in the individual mandate which requires people to sign up for health insurance by April 1. In this blog post, Brandon explains why the delay is not a good idea and how it would be costly to West…
Who do you think would be most affected by an increase in the minimum wage? It might not be who you were thinking. Sean explains how an increase in the minimum wage would benefit not only West Virginia workers but the state's economy as well here. For much more on what increasing the minimum wage…
Budget Beat - October 11, 2013 Under Obamacare, West Virginia, along with Michigan and Kentucky, will see 81 percent of its currently uninsured residents receive some sort of assistance in getting health insurance, either by qualifying for Medicaid or tax-subsidies in the Marketplace. Of the estimated 270,000 West Virginians without health insurance, about 219,000 of…