Charleston Gazette - Gov. Tomblin's recent decision to accept federal funding to provide health coverage to thousands of working West Virginians through Medicaid will not only improve the health of those who gain insurance, it could also save the state money and help with some other pressing problems, including unemployment, substance abuse and overcrowded prisons.…
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Charleston Gazette - Gov. Tomblin recently came up with an additional $15 million in funding for the state budget. While the Governor decided to spend the money on education initiatives, Medicaid, and other programs, there was little explanation of where the money came from or his reasons for spending it the way he did --…
Charleston Gazette - I'm a child of Appalachia, so I know hard times: how to survive them, how to get out of them, what we owe to those still struggling. I'm also a minister who, throughout my career, has focused on finding common ground and a shared purpose with other faiths, pastoring to my own…
The State Journal - Every business faces ups and downs, and how a business reacts and adapts to a downturn plays a large part in its success. Read During tough economic times, businesses often face difficult decisions and can be forced to lay off valuable, trained employees in order to survive. Not only do businesses…
As the nation inches closer to the dreaded "fiscal cliff," much of the public's anxiety is focused on spending cuts and income tax increases that will hit middle- and upper-income households unless Congress and the president strike a deal that pulls us back from the edge. Read Comparatively little attention is being paid to the…
In a recent editorial, "Weak economies lead to income inequality," the Daily Mail wrongly concluded that generous (high tax) states underperform economically compared to stingy (low tax) states. Read The reality is that most academic research finds that tax differences between states have only a small effect on economic growth. Why? Simple arithmetic. Take business taxes.…
Charleston Gazette - Health reform is working for West Virginia seniors. Since passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, West Virginia seniors on Medicare have saved almost $60 million on prescription drug costs. Link to article This year alone 28,700 seniors saved $23 million or an average of $817 per person. Health reform is…
Sunday Gazette-Mail - Children who spend their earliest years in poverty suffer consequences all their lives. They're five times more likely to have children outside marriage, twice as likely to be arrested, and three times more likely to have severe health problems than the average kid. Read
The Charleston Gazette -- It is unfortunate that deficit reduction has come to occupy center stage in the national political debate when clearly our country's biggest problem is the jobs deficit. Read
The Charleston Gazette -- Recently I worked on a report on how working people are faring in West Virginia. The report, the fifth of its kind in so many years, is "The State of Working West Virginia" by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. Read