Charleston Gazette-Mail - I have some questions for the West Virginia Legislature regarding its plans to get rid of the state income tax. Read the full op-ed. Have our roads or Public Employee Insurance Agency been fixed? I’ve not heard any rationale for terminating our income tax. What is it and who really benefits? We…
Tax and Budget
Public News Service - Some of West Virginia's lawmakers are proposing abolishing the state's personal income tax during this year's legislative session, and social-services advocates say the move would be devastating for children and families. Read the full article. Jim McKay, state coordinator for Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia, said the lost income would total…
West Virginia MetroNews - West Virginia political leaders agree they’re interested in phasing out the state’s personal income tax, but just a few days before the annual legislative session begins no one is saying how. Read the full article. “As for the absolute details on the personal income tax, not yet,” said Senate President Craig…
Eliminating the Income Tax and Raising the Sales Tax Would Worsen Racial Inequality in West Virginia
Historic and present-day injustices, both in public policy and in society more broadly, have resulted in vast disparities in income across race and ethnicity in West Virginia. And West Virginia's upside down tax system does little to address those disparities. The average income of white families is 53.7 percent higher than that of Black families…
For Immediate Release: February 2, 20201Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV - With West Virginia still feeling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic recession, the state’s leaders face difficult decisions in the upcoming legislative session. Increasing numbers of West Virginians are struggling to feed their families, remain in their homes, keep their businesses afloat, and protect their…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - West Virginia is incarcerating more people than its regional jail system is meant to hold, and it is costing some county governments more money than they can pay. Read the full article. At least 10 counties in West Virginia are more than 90 days past due on a combined $9 million in…
Urge your legislators to protect revenues by taking action here. We've covered Governor Justice's and legislative leadership's goal of eliminating the state's personal income tax from several angles over the past few weeks, showing that states without income taxes aren't growing any faster than states with the highest income taxes, that eliminating the income tax…
WV News - A coalition of 40 organizations from around the state are calling on West Virginia lawmakers to commit to holding an open and transparent legislative session. Read the full article. In a letter sent to the Democratic and Republican leadership teams in the House of Delegates and state Senate, the groups urge legislators…
The Ascent - Traditionally, the Child Tax Credit has been a bipartisan issue, with lawmakers on both sides aware of the impact such a credit would have on the lives of their constituents. Not so these days. Rather than pass the Build Back Better Act (BBBA), members of Congress and the Senate debated the issues…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Some of West Virginia’s political leaders want to abolish the state income tax. One has even said doing so would help bring 400,000 new people to live in West Virginia. Read the full article. If memory serves, some of the same people predicted that abolishing the state’s prevailing wage for workers on public…