by Chris Nyden On Tuesday, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC) approved an increase in average tuition for West Virginia public college students from $5,687 to $6,067. These increases were partly a result of a $30 million budget cut to higher education in the FY 2014 budget. This is just the second time…
Tax and Budget
The Spring 2013 Fiscal Survey of the States has been released by the National Association of State Budget Officers. The report is chock full of budget information for all 50 states, including spending and revenue levels, forecasts, and a Medicaid outlook. The overall takeaway from the report is that most states are starting to be…
Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office released its latest budget update. According to the CBO, the federal budget deficit is falling, and falling fast. The federal deficit is estimated to be $642 billion this year, its smallest amount since 2008. That will be about 4.0% of GDP, compared to 10.1% in 2009. Projected deficits…
Last week, the West Virginia Economic Development Authority authorized $150 million in bonds that will be used to purchase equipment for the Gestamp stamping plant in South Charleston over the next five years. The Development Authority will purchase the equipment needed for the stamping plant and lease it back to Gestamp, which allows Gestamp to…
Back when we released our report on the FY 2013 budget, we warned that the budget cuts targeting higher education would likely lead to higher tuition, making a college education even less affordable. And it didn't take long for our prediction to come true, as this week New River Community and Technical College and Marshall University both…
Late last week, the governor vetoed several pieces of legislation. Meanwhile, for the first time in several years, he did not issue any budget vetoes. As Sean and I pointed out here, the governor in West Virginia has extraordinary power compared to other states. In fact, the people of the state grant West Virginia's governor…
It's become a part-time hobby of mine to debunk the various "business climate" indexes, showing that they have little to do with actual economic health and performance (see here, here, here, here, here, here and here). These indexes typically operate in an evidence free zone, invariably tell West Virginia that we need to cut taxes,…
On April 17, 2013, the West Virginia legislature passed the Fiscal Year 2014 budget. Only minor changes were made to Governor Tomblin’s $11.3 billion proposal, which was introduced at the start of the legislative session, with the final budget only $2.0 million smaller than the governor’s proposal, a reduction of 0.02 percent. The FY 2014…
As we stated last month, West Virginia, like most states, is finding it increasingly difficult to pay for construction of its road and bridges because its gas tax can't keep up with the growth of fuel-efficient vehicles and the increasing number of miles driven on state roads. And while a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax…
Later this week, the West Virginia Legislature will vote on the FY 2014 state budget. However, both the House and the Senate have their own budget bill, as well as the budget bill proposed by Governor Tomblin at the beginning of the legislative session. These three budgets must be reconciled into one bill before the…