West Virginia Public Broadcasting - West Virginia’s state revenue is down from last fiscal year by 12 percent — a difference of more than $500 million. Read the full article. In March 2024, the state collected about $487.4 million. That is nearly $95 million over revenue estimates, but 6 percent lower than what it collected…
Tax and Budget
West Virginia MetroNews, WCHS - Amid nearly one-third of West Virginians relying on Medicaid, the state-federal affordable healthcare insurance program could face over a $100 million dollar shortfall if lawmakers don’t act. Read the full article. State healthcare experts met on Monday morning in Charleston advocating for West Virginia legislators to vote to preserve and…
West Virginia Watch, News from the States, Bluefield Daily Telegraph - With a special legislative session to address the state budget on the horizon, advocates for West Virginia Medicaid called on state policy makers Monday to fund the health care program. Read the full article. Ellen Allen, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health…
Late in the evening on the final day of the 2024 regular session, lawmakers passed what they referred to as a “skinny budget” totaling $4.997 billion in general revenue for FY 2025. The enacted budget reflects a spending increase of $122 million over FY 2024’s budget, but it is $226 million less than what the…
Associated Press, Cumberland Times-News - West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice’s administration has been characterized by flat budgets and record surpluses that helped cut the state’s income tax last year. Read the full article. Now, the state could face collateral damage: a possible $465 million clawback of pandemic aid by the U.S. Department of Education. It has…
Now that West Virginia families and businesses are filing their 2023 taxes, the state is beginning to see the full impact of tax changes enacted last year. February's revenue collections were historically weak, coming in 30 percent, or $124 million, below last February's collections. February's revenue numbers are the worst in at least a decade…
This week we got our first look at the House and Senate versions of the FY 2025 budget. Both the Senate and the House proposed budgets came in far below the governor’s proposed budget, even as the governor’s budget proposal is $450 million below pre-pandemic FY 2019 expenditures after adjusting for inflation. And while legislative…
Mountain State Spotlight, Beckley Register-Herald - As he stood before a packed House Chamber for his final State of the State address in January, Gov. Jim Justice rattled off a list of his greatest hits while in office. Read the full article. There was the obligatory mention of last year’s $1.8 billion in surplus revenue. Then…
Newsweek - Lawmakers in West Virginia have approved a bill that will see state income tax on Social Security benefits be gradually phased out. Read the full article. Republican Governor Jim Justice announced in January during his annual budget proposal that he wished to see all state-levied taxes on Social Security axed. The plan has taken a step…
West Virginia's revenue collections are down $378 million compared to this time last year, in large part due to a collapse in severance tax revenue. At this point in FY 2023 West Virginia had collected $631 million in severance tax revenue, while this year the state has only collected $168 million as a result of…