For Immediate Release: March 18, 2021Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV – For at least the last decade, West Virginia has been at the forefront of the overdose epidemic in the United States. Since 2010, its death rate per 100,000 by overdose of any type of drug has led the nation. Our new report released today both shows…
News Releases
For Immediate Release: March 15, 2021Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV - Last month, Governor Jim Justice proposed what he described as a “flat” budget for FY 2022, with only minor changes from the FY 2021 budget. While the state budget remained stable during the COVID-19 pandemic, that stability relied on tapping reserves, federal stimulus funding, and other temporary…
For Immediate Release: March 10, 2021Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV - The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy applauds the passage of the American Rescue Plan. This legislation is the kind of action the country needs at this moment, when unemployed workers are still struggling to pay their bills, millions of families are…
For Immediate Release: February 27, 2021Contact: Jessie Ice, 304-322-0074 or Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV - Last night’s passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of a comprehensive COVID relief bill is an important step forward. This legislation is the kind of action we need in this moment, when the economy is still weak and…
For Immediate Release: February 25, 2021Contact: Dana Kuhnline, (304) 825 3262 Links to report and summaries: New PERI report (Link)ReImagine Appalachia summary of new PERI report (Link)Infographic summary of report findings Link to Zoom event recording: Facebook Live Charleston, WV - The Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) released a report today showing that the ReImagine Appalachia (RA) blueprint could create…
For Immediate Release: February 2, 20201Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV - With West Virginia still feeling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic recession, the state’s leaders face difficult decisions in the upcoming legislative session. Increasing numbers of West Virginians are struggling to feed their families, remain in their homes, keep their businesses afloat, and protect their…
For Immediate Release: January 06, 2021Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV - Between 2000 and 2019, West Virginia’s jail population increased by a staggering 81 percent, from approximately 2,853 inmates to 5,172, even as the state’s population shrunk in the same period. This follows the longer trend of mass incarceration in West Virginia and the United States…
For Immediate Release: December 15, 2020Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV - With West Virginia still feeling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic recession, the state’s leaders face difficult choices in the upcoming legislative session. The choices legislators make will help determine whether or not the state will have a swift and equitable recovery with an economy…
For Immediate Release: December 10, 2020Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV - Over the past 40 years, the mass incarceration of women in West Virginia has exploded, growing by a staggering 2,731 percent from 1978 to 2019. The incarceration rate of women far exceeds the incarceration rate of men in the Mountain State, and in 2019, West…
For Immediate Release: November 11, 2020Contact: Kelly Allen, 304-612-4180 In the wake of the announcement of final results in the 2020 presidential race, the directors of the ReImagine Appalachia campaign made the following statement on behalf of the coalition. Charleston, WV - Like most of us, the people living in the Ohio Valley want future generations to have…