OpEds

January 29, 2018 by Ted Boettner
Business tax cut helps out-of-state corporations, not WV

Charleston Gazette - State leaders are pushing for another large tax cut for corporations and they want you to pay for it. The constitutional amendment (SJR9) would phase out the industrial personal property tax on machinery, equipment, and inventory for manufacturing, coal mining, and natural gas and oil extraction. Link. 

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November 2, 2017 by Ted Boettner
Ted Boettner: West Virginia deserves better tax reform

Huntington Herald-Dispatch/Williamson Daily News - Tax policy is one of the best ways to understand the values of our elected officials. It provides a clear indication of who they are working for, how they want to grow the economy, and how they plan to tackle some of our country's biggest problems. Read/Read  Last week, the U.S. Senate…

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July 28, 2017 by WVCBP
Caitlin Cook: Congress Looks to Stifle One of Our Fastest Growing Industries

Charleston Gazette-Mail - There’s an untold story of success in our state and local economies. During the last decade, unknown to many, an industry —– one with good paying jobs and benefits — was gaining steam all across the Mountain State, and more specifically in rural areas where other industries have since left (Story Link). This industry…

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June 4, 2017 by Ted Boettner
Ted Boettner: Senate Tax Plan is Upward Distribution (Gazette)

Charleston Gazette-Mail - “It’s kind of hard to sell ‘trickle down,’ so the supple-side formula was the only way to get a tax policy that was really ‘trickle down’…Kemp-Roth (the supply-side tax bill) was always a Trojan horse to bring down the top rate.” As some may remember, this quote is from David Stockman, President Reagan’s…

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May 26, 2017 by WVCBP
Linda Frame: (Wrong) CHOICE Act Would Hurt WV Consumers

Charleston Gazette-Mail - Congress could soon take up a dangerous piece of legislation that has the potential to cause immense harm to West Virginia working families and retirees, all in the name of lining the pockets of big banks and Wall Street billionaires. The so-called Financial CHOICE Act would radically roll back the rules put in…

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May 11, 2017 by Sean O'Leary
Sean O’Leary: WV Legislature Plans Biggest Tax Cut for Rich

Charleston Gazette - The centerpiece of the compromise tax plan currently under debate by the West Virginia Legislature is a major cut to the income tax rates paired with an increase in the sales tax. Since West Virginia’s current income tax is progressive, and based on the ability to pay, collapsing the brackets and reducing the…

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March 23, 2017 by WVCBP
Ted Boettner: Tax Proposals Shift Load onto Working Families

Gazette - Unfazed by a looming budget crisis, some lawmakers are pursuing destructive tax proposals that would shift more of the tax load onto working families and small businesses to pay for tax cuts for wealthy and powerful special interests. West Virginia already has an upside down tax system that requires more from low- and middle-income…

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March 9, 2017 by WVCBP
Linda Frame: WV Sees Through Financial Lobbyists; Manchin Should Too

Charleston Gazette - Right now, Sen. Joe Manchin is getting a lot of attention from bank lobbyists who are trying to convince him that allowing some of the wealthiest corporations in America to write their own rules is somehow good for us here in one of the poorest states in the union. Read What these lobbyists…

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February 5, 2017 by WVCBP
Kathleen D. Stoll: Block Grants And Caps Bad News For West Virginia Medicaid

Gazette-Mail - Republican leadership in Congress has promised to move quickly to change the fundamental nature of the Medicaid state-federal program partnership. What could these proposals mean for West Virginia? In 2016, about 30 percent of West Virginians were covered by Medicaid, including children, low-income adults, people with disabilities, low-income seniors and many people in long-term…

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