Charleston Gazette-Mail - Earlier this year, at a legislative breakfast in Charleston, representatives from two of West Virginia’s natural gas associations spoke about the economic benefits of the industry. Read full article. The state was prospering thanks to the oil and gas industry, said Charlie Burd, executive director of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of…
WVCBP in the News
LocalDVM - On April 2nd of 2019, the average woman in America would finally be paid as much as a man was paid in the previous 12-month year. Read/watch. This is why Equal Pay Day is being recognized Tuesday. The West Virginia Center of Budget and Policy reports the state has the 3rd largest wage gap…
WV Metro News - In front of West Virginia coal miners, Gov. Jim Justice signed a bill lowering severance taxes on thermal or steam coal in West Virginia from five percent to three percent. Read full article. Justice had a signing ceremony Wednesday at the Harrison County Coal Company’s Harrison County Mine in Mannington, signing into…
Beckley Register-Herald - A bill to exempt Social Security income from state personal income tax will likely take effect next tax filing season – in the 2019 tax year. Read full article. House Bill 2001, sponsored by Del. Jason Harshbarger, R-Ritchie, passed during the legislative session, which ended March 9, and was sent to the governor…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - The House of Delegates on Friday passed a bill expanding health care coverage to low-income pregnant women. Read full article. Senate Bill 546 passed in the House with a 97-3 vote. Delegates Tom Fast, R-Fayette; Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock; and Marshall Wilson, R- Berkeley, voted against the bill. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tom…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Despite a surfeit of testimony indicating that a cut in the severance tax on steam coal will not have significant impact in making West Virginia coal price competitive with other states or with natural gas, the Senate Finance Committee advanced legislation to phase down the tax from 5 percent to 3 percent over…
West Virginia Metro News, Morgantown Dominion-Post - The Senate Finance Committee approved a stretched-out, slowed-down version of the bill to reduce the severance tax on steam coal from 5 percent to 3 percent. Read full article. The committee also approved one of the two House bills aimed at gathering money to cap orphaned oil and gas…
Wall Street Journal - A soup kitchen downtown in the state’s capital city has been busier than usual in recent months, while a nearby health clinic is serving 12,000 more patients, many of whom are juggling multiple low-wage jobs, than it served five years ago. Read article. Despite the emergence of some new small businesses on…
West Virginia Public Broadcasting - The West Virginia House passed a bill Wednesday that would reduce the severance tax paid on coal burned for electricity. Read/Listen. House Bill 3142 passed on an 88-11 vote after contentious debate on the floor. Long sought by industry, the legislation would reduce the severance tax paid by coal companies on…
West Virginia Public News Service - Critics of a proposal rushing through the House of Delegates say it could blow a hole in West Virginia's state budget by using one-time money to pay for permanent tax cuts that mostly help those who are well off. Read full article. House Bill 3137 would create a fund where…