For Immediate Release: September 2, 2021Contact: Kelly Allen, 304-612-4180 Charleston, WV – Today over 30 non-profit, advocacy, and direct service organizations representing West Virginia workers and families called on U.S. Senator Joe Manchin and West Virginia's entire federal delegation to support a robust budget resolution that meets the needs of the moment. Supports for workers and families…
Economy
Jackson Newspapers - A "help wanted" sign has lived in the Downtowner's front window for a year. Before the COVID pandemic began, the restaurant had seven employees. Now it has four. Two, not including the owners. Read the full article. Dave and Melissa took over the restaurant nine years ago. The American homestyle restaurant survived the…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - In his 27 years as an underground coal miner in West Virginia, Gary Hairston noticed that it took some backup to breathe easier. Read the full article. “There was a lot better protection in a union mine,” Hairston recalled. “The union backs you.” Hairston found that a union representative would investigate miners’…
Thanks to the programs enacted through COVID-related federal relief legislation this past year, an estimated 301,000 fewer West Virginians were living in poverty this year than would have been otherwise, a reduction of 71 percent, according to an analysis from the Urban Institute estimating the state's Supplemental Poverty Measure. The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) measures…
This report was co-authored by Sean O'Leary, senior policy analyst, and Myya Helm, summer research associate. Read the full report here. Introduction As West Virginia recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, its path forward remains unclear. For many years, West Virginia has lagged behind the nation in many positive economic indicators, with low earnings…
For Immediate Release: August 26, 2021Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV – As West Virginia works to recover from the COVID-19 recession, its path forward remains uncertain. While the pandemic undoubtedly introduced unique hardships, the difficult truth is that West Virginia has been struggling economically for decades. For many years, the state has lagged behind the nation in…
WOWK - Back in mid-June Governor Jim justice cut the extra $300 in federal weekly unemployment benefits early, which affected 15,000 people in the Mountain State. Watch the full segment. While many argue it was intended to get people back to work, the data shows a different reality. Ask most people in Charleston about ending…
Since I have no earthly idea how video streaming services work, and am too cheap to pay for them if I did, I miss out on a lot of the popular new TV series. Read the full article. However, when I was home for vacation, I did have the opportunity to binge-watch the first season…
Charleston Gazette-Mail, Huntington Herald-Dispatch - Gov. Jim Justice’s decision to cut off federal enhanced unemployment benefits 12 weeks early did not improve state employment rates or reduce unemployment rolls, but coincided with a sharp spike in West Virginia households experiencing financial hardships, an analysis released Thursday shows. Read the full article. “With the pandemic still…
On June 19, Governor Justice ended all federally funded pandemic unemployment benefit programs, 12 weeks before they were set to expire. The benefits -- which included an extra weekly $300 payment to unemployed workers, as well as extended eligibility both for workers who had exhausted their regular weeks of eligibility and for self-employed workers and…