On April 26, 2011 Senator Manchin endorsed a plan to limit total federal spending to 20.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While on the surface the plan looks like a benign proposal to handle the federal deficit and debt, it would eventually lead to major cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and possibly Social Security.…
Tax and Budget
With the April 18 tax filing deadline fast approaching, we've the CBPP assembled these charts to provide a big-picture look at the U.S. tax system.
Last week, members of Congress avoided a government shutdown and came to an agreement to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year. Over all the agreement contains a $38 billion reduction in appropriations for FY 2011, compared to FY 2010. Included in the agreement is a 0.2 percent across the board…
Acting Governor Tomblin's Fiscal Year 2012 budget survived the legislative process relatively intact and contained no major cuts or new taxes. West Virginia remains in a fiscally stable position. Read
A recent editorial in the Daily Mail claims that West Virginia's recent business tax cuts have resulted in surplus revenues for March 2011 ($25.7 million) and fiscal year to date ($79.5 million). Following a similar pattern, there was no evidence provided for this assertion other than anecdotal platitudes. In making its case, the Daily Mail…
Last week, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities updated their list of states with budget shortfalls in FY 2012. As you can tell from the chart below - or from reading the paper last week - the Mountain State is one of 6 states that does not have a budget shortfall in the upcoming…
The federal deficit has been a hot topic for awhile now, with an overwhelming chorus reciting that the federal government has a spending problem, and that drastic cuts are needed to close the deficit. But is spending the whole problem? Without a doubt, federal spending has increased a great deal the past few years in response to…
The Washington Post has a fantastic editorial by Delaware Governor Jack Markell. Markell explains why the "economic war between the states" is a lost cause and why states should focus on public investment to boost economic growth. This is something we've been trying to get the media and legislators to understand for quite some time.…
The Daily Mail reported today on the fate of legislation to address the state's OPEB liability and the future of public employee retiree health care. In doing so, they may have confused readers by not putting the OPEB issue in context for its readers. For example, the lead paragraph states: "Ask West Virginia legislators if…
How many people understand this point? My guess, not many. An article in the Charleston Gazette this morning may help: "The unfunded liabilities would be a problem if all state and local retirees went into retirement at once, but they won't. Nor will state governments go out of business and hand underfunded pension plans over to a federal…