As West Virginia policymakers consider legislation to regulate the state’s next big energy boom, this WVCBP report finds that strengthening the severance tax would help the state take advantage of its natural resource wealth and would not put the state at a competitive disadvantage. Read
Reports & Briefs
Twenty-two percent of all West Virginians rely on Medicaid for health care. Cutting Medicaid benefits would hurt many of the state's poor, elderly and disabled. Medicaid Made Simple explains why Medicaid is so important to West Virginia, its people, its economy and its future. Read
President Obama's Jobs Act includes extending the temporary payroll tax cut passed last December. The payroll tax cut has been an effective stimulus in West Virginia benefiting approximately 900,000 people and providing $500 million in tax relief. The president's new proposal would provide a $1,500 tax cut to the average family, help prevent a renewed…
Although West Virginia has weathered the Great Recession better than most states, the state’s jobs deficit and high unemployment rate give West Virginia workers little to celebrate this 2011 Labor Day. With a jobs deficit of over 20,000 and with the number of unemployed workers double what it was three years ago, the labor market…
As policymakers debate regulating Marcellus Shale gas drilling, the state needs to protect itself from the booms and busts of energy development that have left many counties with undiversified economies, a less-educated workforce and poorer health outcomes. This is according to a new report by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, "Booms and…
The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy's guide -- “Property Taxes: A West Virginia Primer” -- explains how property taxes work and some of the important public services they fund. For hard copies please contact Linda Frame. Read
On April 26, 2011 Senator Manchin endorsed a plan to limit total federal spending to 20.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While on the surface the plan looks like a benign proposal to handle the federal deficit and debt, it would eventually lead to major cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and possibly Social Security.…
Governors and legislators across the country are targeting public sector compensation as they try to cut spending and rein in budget deficits. To justify cuts to wages and benefit packages, the argument is that public sector workers have it better than their private sector counterparts. What is the situation in West Virginia? An analysis by…
Acting Governor Tomblin's Fiscal Year 2012 budget survived the legislative process relatively intact and contained no major cuts or new taxes. West Virginia remains in a fiscally stable position. Read
In The State of Working West Virginia: The Road to Recovery 2010, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy examines how the 2009 Recovery Act and other federal programs benefited West Virginians, how the Great Recession caused the loss of good paying industry jobs and how the gap between the rich and the poor…