WVCBP Policy Analyst Sean O'Leary and Vice President Dr. Karen Kunz recently co-authored "West Virginia Economic Development Funding: The Role of Federal Earmarks" which examines the use of federal earmarks to fund economic development in West Virginia. The study discusses the state's dependence on federal earmarks and how this affects its ability to attract other…
Tax and Budget
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
Last night the Charleston Area Alliance hosted a discussion between Senator Brooks McCabe, PEIA director Ted Cheatham, and yours truly on how to address the state's growing OPEB (other post-employment benefits) liability. As readers may know, we published a detailed report on how the state should handle this problem back in January. I do not…
Richard Caldwell, a Wheeling native and the vice president for the Appalachian region of Audubon Engineering, said Charleston was chosen because of the availability of skilled and experienced workers. Availability of the Marcellus Shale natural gas reserve also was a contributing factor in the decision to come to West Virginia, he said. Last week, we issued a policy memo…
On Sunday, the NYTimes ran an insightful and well written op-ed by Seamus McGraw on his regrets of leasing his Pennsylvania land to a natural gas company. McGraw, who is the author of 'The End of Country", summed up his thoughts here: Standing there in what used to be our pasture on that light summer night, watching…
Today's Daily Mail reports on a study from the Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research, warning that West Virginia's high tax burden on the natural gas industry could hurt the development of the natural gas industry. Reading carefully, one may notice a lot of "maybes" "mights" and "coulds" in the report's conclusions. Let's take a closer look,…
Over the years, the Center has written tirelessly about the evangelical belief many media pundits, policymakers, and lobbyists have about the magic of tax cuts. In particular, the belief about tax cuts "paying for themselves." There is zero - I repeat - zero empirical evidence that tax cuts generate so much economic activity that revenues…
One idea we've championed in the past is the creation of a trust fund for economic development and diversification funded through an increase in West Virginia's severance tax levied on coal and natural gas extraction. But would raising the severance tax make it too expensive to mine coal or drill for natural gas in West Virginia, and…
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…
I've talked before about the relationship (or lack thereof) between the level of business taxation and economic growth in the states, concluding that things like quality public services, access to markets and inputs, and a quality workforce all matter more to economic growth and prosperity than taxes. But there is another argument out there that is closely related to the business…