Over the last decade or so, local governments entities in West Virginia have used a myriad of business property tax incentives to reward or induce local economic development projects. These can include tax increment financing or TIFs, lease agreements, tax credits (e.g. local B&O), issuing bonds to purchase property, and the use of Payment in…
Education & Human Services
Beckley Register-Herald - West Virginians often show our love through sharing food. Whether it’s a big pot of beans and cornbread on the stove when we show up to a relative’s house or a friend sharing her “world famous” pepperoni roll recipe, we show love by filling up bellies. Read op-ed. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance…
With a special session on education reform looming, the Chamber of Commerce has weighed in with a "comprehensive" report on education outcomes in West Virginia. Like their previous report on the subject, the Chamber analysis focuses solely on education spending, concluding that West Virginia educational outcomes are too low despite the amount the state is…
With this month's Special Session on education reform looming, Speaker Hanshaw has floated the idea of replacing one controversial policy proposal, Education Savings Accounts (ESA), with another, tax credit scholarships. Like ESA's, tax credit scholarships are another voucher-like policy that create financial incentives for students to leave the public school system and enter into the…
Over the last 30 years, the number of West Virginians incarcerated has grown nearly five-fold despite a decline in the state’s population over this time. This steep rise is not due to rising crime rates in West Virginia, but the policy choices made by lawmakers to use imprisonment as a response to crime. Download PDF.
Making ends meet is a struggle for many West Virginians employed in lower-wage jobs. In fact, 23% of workers in West Virginia are employed in low-wage jobs and a quarter of those live in poverty. People working in their communities as daycare workers, restaurant servers, home health aides, administrative assistants, and many other lower-income jobs deserve to be able to…
West Virginia legislators are considering enacting voucher-like programs to transfer tax-payer money to private schools. This week they introduced a proposal to create Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) as part of the omnibus education reform bill, SB 451, which would set public money aside for educational services, including private school tuition, textbooks and curriculum materials, private…
In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) which created a federal lifetime ban on benefits from SNAP for individuals convinced of drug-related felonies. State legislatures have the option to modify the terms of this ban or to opt out of the provision altogether. Download PDF.
Beckley Register-Herald - Last month, in a major victory for West Virginians, Congress passed a farm bill that protects the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps thousands in our state, and millions across the country, put food on their tables. Read article. The final, overwhelmingly bipartisan bill rejected harmful cuts and changes to SNAP…
Earlier this week, nearly 100 West Virginians, including farmers, educators, advocates and food pantry representatives, gathered in Buckhannon to address solutions to hunger in the Mountain State. The Food for All Summit was hosted by the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and other partners to focus…