For Immediate Release Contact Seth DiStefano or Linda Frame, 304-720-8682 As Tax Day approaches, state delegates are calling for legislation to create a tax credit for West Virginia families who earn low wages. Once enacted, West Virginia's Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) would be the 27th in the nation, allowing families to keep more of…
News Releases
For Immediate Release Contact: Sean O'Leary or Ted Boettner, 304-720-8682 (Charleston, WV) – One of the most complicated pieces of legislation is also one of the most important: the state budget. The state budget directly affects everyone living in West Virginia. It consists of thousands of decisions about our shared responsibility to maintain and improve…
For Immediate Release Contact Ted Boettner or Sean O'Leary, 304-720-8682 (Charleston, WV) – With the 2016 Legislative Session now in the rear view mirror, much work lies ahead in the search for solutions to solving the state's budget crisis. Legislators met for their traditional post-session budget negotiations but were not able to come together on…
For Immediate ReleaseContact: Ted Boettner or Sean O'Leary(Charleston, WV) – Now is the time for West Virginia to reverse years of neglect and step up investment in state-of-the-art school facilities; up-to-date water treatment plants; better highways; and other public infrastructure—which is vital to creating good jobs and promoting full economic recovery. That's the crucial message…
For Immediate ReleaseContact: Ted Boettner or Sean O'Leary, 304-720-8682(Charleston, WV) – Governor Earl Ray Tomblin's final budget faces a familiar challenge of overcoming a deepening budget gap, while tackling a remaining shortfall from last year, by relying on the state's Rainy Day Fund and another round of harmful spending cuts. "Confronting the Fiscal Gap," released…
— Today Congress announced legislation to create the RECLAIM Act (Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More). The legislation would release $1 billion in funding from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund over the next five years to revitalize communities impacted by the decline of the region's coal industry. PDF…
For Immediate ReleaseContact Ted Boettner at 304-720-8682(Charleston, WV) West Virginia legislators debating on whether or not to make West Virginia the next so-called "Right to Work" (RTW) state are relying on a flawed report from West Virginia University. Read PDF of news release. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in a report released today, a…
For Immediate Release Contact Sean O'Leary, 304-720-8682 (Charleston, WV) Too many working families in West Virginia are paid low wages and have trouble making ends meet, with basic living expenses stretching family budgets beyond their limits. With tax overhaul a likely focus of the 2016 Legislative Session, a bottom-up tax cut like a state Earned…
For Immediate ReleaseContact: Linda Frame, 304-720-8682(Charleston, WV) Today the Invest in Working Families Coalition launched its interactive tool to show how a West Virginia Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can help working families make ends meet while boosting the economy. The coalition is made up of 18 groups from across the state coming together to…
For Immediate Release Contact Sean O'Leary, 304-720-8682 (Charleston, WV) For decades, West Virginia has struggled with the nation's lowest levels of labor force participation. A new report released today by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, "State of Working West Virginia 2015: Answers and Solutions to West Virginia's Low Labor Force Participation" examines…