Economic Security

June 3, 2021 by Sean O'Leary
Sean O’Leary: Justice’s Decision on Benefits Hurts WV Workers (Opinion)

Charleston Gazette-Mail - Over the past year, the pandemic and our nation’s response have highlighted some of the flaws in our antiquated federal-state unemployment insurance system. Read the full op-ed. The CARES Act addressed some of these well-recognized problems, particularly through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which provides unemployment benefits to people who do…

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June 1, 2021 by Quenton King
Housing Help And HIV Prevention On This West Virginia Morning

West Virginia Public Broadcasting - On this West Virginia Morning, people who have been incarcerated, once they get out, often struggle to find a job and a place to live. Those struggles often drive them back to crime, but re-entry councils are helping to address that problem. Also, in this show, Kanawha County has the most…

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May 28, 2021 by Kelly Allen
Kelly Allen: WV Delegation Should Support Tax on Wealthy (Opinion)

Charleston Gazette-Mail - West Virginia’s bridges, dams, drinking water, roads and wastewater have received a D grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers, and 24% of the state’s residents live in a broadband desert. Furthermore, 54% live in a child care desert and 19% of children in the state live in poverty. Read the…

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May 28, 2021 by Rhonda Rogombe
Enhancing Child Welfare and Supporting West Virginia’s Foster Care System

May is National Foster Care Month. Federally recognized since 1988, National Foster Care Month recognizes the 463,000 children and youth in the foster care system across the country, as well as their caretakers and families, policymakers, and the countless individuals who coalesce to support them. West Virginia has been one of the leading states in the number…

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May 27, 2021 by Sean O'Leary
States Tap Federal Aid to Shore up Empty Unemployment Funds

Brooklyn Daily Eagle - Businesses could be spared billions of dollars of higher taxes in coming years — potentially freeing up money to spend on employees or invest in their operations — as a result of federal coronavirus aid flowing to the states. Read the full article. Governors and lawmakers in more than half the…

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May 25, 2021 by Seth DiStefano
Food for All Coalition

WSAZ News Channel 3 - WVCBP policy outreach director Seth DiStefano discusses the efforts of the Food for All coalition and how it works to combat hunger and poverty in West Virginia. Watch the full interview here.

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May 24, 2021 by WVCBP
TUESDAY: Down Payment on an Old Note

Beckley Register-Herald - For a state that has given much to build this nation of steel, laboring in the coal mines all these years, it is frustrating to watch West Virginia’s two U.S. senators stand in the way of the Biden administrative plan to repay a portion of that debt. Read the full article. Yes,…

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May 20, 2021 by Kelly Allen
Justice Praises Improved Unemployment Report, but Still Says Enhanced Benefits Must End

West Virginia MetroNews - Gov. Jim Justice touted West Virginia’s improving unemployment rate while also saying not enough residents are going back to work. Read the full article. The statements were in two different parts of his regular pandemic briefing today. In one, he touted this week’s report that West Virginia’s unemployment rate has dropped to 5.8…

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May 18, 2021 by Kelly Allen
Best Practices for Local and State Prioritization of American Rescue Plan Act Funds

Overview Read the full fact sheet here. Under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), states, cities, counties, U.S. territories, and tribal nations will receive a total of $350 billion in Fiscal Recovery Funds to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and help bring back jobs. In West Virginia, the state government will receive $1.355 billion and…

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