In the debate over the federal government's recent budget deficits, many are arguing that government spending over the last couple of years has been out of control. However, the numbers show that is just not true. This chart looks compares the average annual growth rate of government spending by decade since the 1950s. And as…
Tax and Budget
Robert Semple writes convincingly that gas prices are not set by Presidents, but are set in a global market, and that they are beyond the control of any one country. As Dean Baker pointed out last week, "Oil prices in the United States depend on the world market, not just supply and demand in the…
Here's an article that appeared in the Gazette about the strain Medicaid is putting on the state's budget. Due to the loss of stimulus funds, the declining federal match rate (which is tied to rising income in the state), and rising health care costs, state officials are scrambling to find a way to keep Medicaid funded.…
On the heels of their 2012 State Business Tax Climate Index is a new report from the Tax Foundation, called Location Matters: A Comparative Analysis of State Tax Costs on Business. What's the difference? While the State Business Tax Climate attempted to measure the "business friendliness" of each state's tax system, the Location Matters report attempts to measure…
This policy memo is a comparison of how West Virginia and Wyoming tax their mineral resources. While there are similarities, there are also many differences. This paper continues the discussion of how states which are reliant on extractive industries can make policy decisions, like the creation of a permanent mineral trust fund, and how those…
There has been a lot of noise lately in the policy community about a new report out of Oklahoma, recommending the elimination of the personal income tax. The report claims that the nine states with no personal income tax have performed better economically than the nine states with the highest personal income taxes. The Institute on Taxation…
Executive Director Ted Boettner presented to the West Virginia Education Association's membership at its 2012 Mid-Winter Conference. His presentation focused on the state budget, how the state could shift funding to more effectively pay for important programs, and why business tax cuts are not good policy decisions for West Virginia. View the presentation in PDF…
Despite little growth in either its population or crime rate, West Virginia has seen a marked increase in the number of people housed in its corrections facilities. As the state's prisons become overcrowded, West Virginia is facing a corrections crisis that not only impacts the state's budget but also the low-income and minority communities…
Last month the Tax Foundation released the 2012 edition of their State Business Tax Climate Index, a measure of how business-friendly a state's tax system is. The overall index is comprised of 5 sub-indexes, measuring the "business-friendliness" of a state's corporate income, individual income, sales, property, and unemployment insurance taxes. This year, West Virginia ranked 23rd, with…
A bill signed into law last week by Governor Tomblin will give a major tax incentive to companies that want to locate a cracker plant in West Virginia. According to the bill's fiscal note, this tax incentive would have no fiscal impact on the state. In reality, not only will the state lose millions in…