Contact: Sean O'Leary, 304-720-8682, soleary@wvpolicy.org, Stephen Smith, 304-610-6512, ssmith@wvhealthykids.org More than 320,000 West Virginians lived in poverty in 2012, including nearly 90,000 children, according to today's release of the 2012 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau. The income and poverty data released show the continued struggle for thousands of families in West Virginia. Read…
News Releases
Contact: Ted Boettner, 304-590-3454 (cell), Rick Wilson, 304-993-8950 (cell) or 304-743-9459 (home) Not that long ago West Virginians had access to good-paying jobs with benefits that did not necessarily require a college education and provided a good wage. A transition took place in the 1980s and 90s, however, causing the number of those jobs to…
Contact: Sean O'Leary at 304-720-8682 or soleary@wvpolicy.org The best way for West Virginia to grow its economy is by investing in a well-educated workforce, according to a new paper from EARN—the Economic Analysis and Research Network, a project of the Economic Policy Institute, which includes the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. In Education…
Contact: Brandon Merritt at 304-720-8682 or bmerritt@wvpolicy.org As states prepare for full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) next year, West Virginia could take advantage of one of the Act's lesser-known provisions to extend Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage to public employees. According to a report released today by the West Virginia Center…
Contact: Ted Boettner or Linda Frame at 304-720-8682 or lframe@wvpolicy.org 350,000 people in West Virginia will see a cut in their food assistance benefits this fall, when a temporary boost to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) is set to expire, according to new data released by the U.S. Department…
Massive Cuts in Federal Funding to States and Localities under Ryan Plan Could Harm West Virginia Schools, Public Health and Safety, Report Finds Contact Ted Boettner at 304-720-8682 or tboettner@wvpolicy.org — Critical federal funding for West Virginia's schools, health care, clean water, law enforcement, and other key services would be slashed under U.S. House of…
Contact: Sean O'Leary, 304-720-8682 or soleary@wvpolicy.org – Legislation that would require voters to have a photo ID before they can cast their ballots has once again been introduced in West Virginia. While the purpose of this law is to curtail voter fraud, West Virginia has had just 16 cases of election fraud since 2000, all…
Contact: Stephen Smith, 304-610-6512, ssmith@wvhealthykids.org Ted Boettner, 304-720-8682 or 304-590-3454 (cell), tboettner@wvpolicy.org $1 in Early Childhood Investment Returns $7 in Reduced Crime Rates, Better Employment (Charleston, WV) While West Virginia has successfully reduced the number of its low-income senior citizens over the past 40 years, its number of children living in poverty has grown and…
Contact: Anne Singer, 202-299-1066, ext. 27 or Ted Boettner, 304-720-8682, tboettner@wvpolicy.org Read report New 50-State Study Provides Detailed Profiles and Comparisons of Tax Systems and Distribution Like most state tax systems, West Virginia takes a larger share from middle- and low-income families than from wealthy families, according to the fourth edition of "Who Pays? A…
Contact: Stuart Frazer, 304-720-8682 or sfrazier@wvpolicy.org Low-Income Families Fall Further Behind –The income gap that separates West Virginia's top wage earners from the rest of the state's households has widened dramatically over the past few decades, according to a study released today by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.…