Tax and Budget

April 19, 2021 by Sean O'Leary
FY 2022 Budget Recap

Last week, Governor Justice approved the FY 2022 budget passed by the legislature at the end of session. While the fate of the budget was up in the air for most of the session as the legislature attempted to eliminate the income tax, by the time the session came to a close, only a few…

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April 17, 2021 by WVCBP
Statehouse Beat: D-word Best Describes Past Session

Charleston Gazette-Mail - I was trying to find a word that sums up the 2021 legislative session, and after much consideration, it came to me: Despicable. Read the full article. Despicable, in that the Legislature committed acts of cruelty for no reason but the sheer pleasure they derived from doing so. They passed a despicable…

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April 16, 2021 by WVCBP
During The 2021 Session, West Virginia Lawmakers Teed Up Three Proposed Constitutional Amendments. Here’s What They’d Do

West Virginia Public Broadcasting - While any 60-day legislative session focuses on the hundreds of bills introduced and considered, Republican supermajorities this year helped push three proposed constitutional amendments to the ballot for voters to ponder. Read the full article. Come November 2022, West Virginians will have the opportunity to decide whether to amend the…

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April 9, 2021 by WVCBP
Repealing the WV Income Tax Could Mean More People Coming to the State. It’ll Definitely Mean Changes for People Already Living Here.

Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Flipboard - Republican Gov. Jim Justice and some state lawmakers predict the elimination of the personal income tax would bring hundreds of thousands of new residents to the state. Read the full article. There’s no guarantee of that, but their decisions regarding the tax, and its effect on…

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April 9, 2021 by Sean O'Leary
West Virginia Weighs Income Tax Cut to Stem Population Loss

Associated Press, Times West Virginian, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Star - With West Virginia about to lose another congressional seat because of steady population decline, some Republican lawmakers are convinced a massive income tax cut is the key to reversing the trend. But figuring out how to do that without harming the state’s most vulnerable or…

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April 9, 2021 by WVCBP
Rafe Godfrey: The Complicated Truth on Nixing Inventory Tax (Opinion)

Charleston Gazette-Mail - Rebecca McPhail, president of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association, recently authored an op-ed on the legislation to place the business inventory tax, which is now protected by the state constitution, up for a referendum in November 2022. Read the full op-ed. Indeed, the state Republican Party is on a tax-cutting spree (and when are…

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April 8, 2021 by Sean O'Leary
Latest Senate Income Tax Elimination Bill Still Cuts Taxes for the Wealthy While Raising Taxes for Everyone Else and Slashing the Budget

Last night, on a narrow 18-16 vote, the Senate passed an amended version of HB 3300, making significant changes to the version of the bill that the Senate Finance Committee had introduced just days before. The amended bill was voted on mere hours after being introduced, and was passed without a full fiscal analysis. With…

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April 8, 2021 by Sean O'Leary
WV Income Tax Repeal: What’s next?

WOWK - The West Virginia legislature has until Sunday to jointly come to an agreement on whether the state will eliminate its personal income tax. Watch the full segment. Local policy analysts are concerned about what may be in, or left out of a bill with only three days left to debate it. In a…

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April 8, 2021 by Renee Alves
WVa Income Tax Cut Plan Advances to House of Delegates

Associated Press, US News, Martinsville Bulletin, WV News, Middletown Press, Bristol Herald Courier, Tulsa World, WVVA, Flipboard, Chron, - West Virginia Republicans’ attempt to cut the state income tax took a key step forward after the state Senate narrowly approved a measure on Wednesday night. Read the full article. But its fate remains uncertain in…

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April 7, 2021 by Sean O'Leary
Some Lawmakers Want to Change How West Virginia’s Natural Resources are Taxed — but it Would End Up Costing Local Governments

Mountain State Spotlight, Beckley Register-Herald - Two bills to change how West Virginia’s natural resources are valued for property tax purposes are moving through the Legislature. Proponents say the measures — which would probably lower  the taxes companies pay — are necessary to address statutory and constitutional requirements. But it could also reduce the tax…

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