Charleston Gazette-Mail, Huntington Herald-Dispatch, Williamson Daily News - West Virginia's senior senator has suggested restricting a program currently sending families $250-$300 per month, per child -- a move that could hamper education outcomes and reduce the number of children in the state receiving the benefit by more than half. Read the full article. According to…
Income and Work
It's Halloween week -- time to get spooky! Who needs ghost stories when you have spine-tingling bars and trend lines? Here are five ghoulish charts about West Virginia in 2021 that will make your bones rattle and your blood curdle. At the beginning of the pandemic, West Virginia lost an unprecedented 101,000 jobs as total…
This blog post, co-authored by the Keystone Research Center's executive director Stephen Herzenberg and the WVCBP’s senior policy analyst Sean O'Leary, was originally published by the ReImagine Appalachia coalition. West Virginia is at the center of the national political storm surrounding the need to invest in infrastructure, in families, and in combating climate change. Notably, West Virginia…
Raw Story - According to a report from the Washington Post, voters back in West Virginia are furious with Sen. Joe Manchin (D) for bullying his fellow Democrats to take out much-needed aid for poorer families, saying they could use the financial assistance and he is disregarding them. Read the full article. Of particular concern is Manchin…
Washington Post - Cable news flickered on the flat-screen television in Ruth and James Jones’s living room. The CNN ticker read: “Biden lowers spending bill price in effort to lure Manchin and Sinema.” The couple watched and listened. Read the full article. They are raising two grandchildren, ages 10 and 17, on a limited income…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Last week was an eye-opener at the Legislature. Read the full article. Not because Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, compared vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany. Not because Sen. Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, got so upset with the shady, secret, closed-door backroom dealings going on that he blurted out a curse word on the Senate floor.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Senator Manchin was calling for a significant weakening of the enhanced Child Tax Credit (CTC) as part of his proposal to scale back the Build Back Better agenda. The enhanced CTC is one of the signature programs of the recovery agenda and is already making a significant impact…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - West Virginia’s COVID-19 death toll reached 4,219 Wednesday, including 2,878 deaths of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals since vaccines became available, a point state coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh drove home during the state COVID-19 briefing. Read the full article. Since COVID-19 vaccines became available last December, the virus has killed 3,102…
Associated Press, Opera News - West Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.6 in September, the lowest rate since August 2008. Read the full article. Total unemployment grew 1,200 over the month and the number of unemployed state residents dropped by 2,100 to 36,000, WorkForce West Virginia said in…
Huntington Herald-Dispatch - West Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.6 in September, the lowest rate since August 2008. Read the full article. Total unemployment grew 1,200 over the month and the number of unemployed state residents dropped by 2,100 to 36,000, WorkForce West Virginia said in a statement.…