WVCBP in the News

February 10, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
WV Senate Passes Welfare Drug Testing Bill

Huntington Herald-Dispatch - The West Virginia Senate has approved a bill that could lead to a 3-year pilot program to drug-test certain applicants for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, commonly referred to as TANF. ReadThe Senate approved Senate Bill 6 by a vote of 32-2 Tuesday morning. The bill moves to the House…

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February 10, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
State Budget Issues Could Potentially Impact University Operations

Daily Athenaeum - West Virginia University may soon feel the heat of the alarming budget shortfall the state is experiencing, largely due to market forces at work in the energy sector coupled with tax cuts made nearly a decade ago. ReadIn October of last year, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin announced a 4 percent budget cut…

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February 4, 2016 by Ted Boettner
House to Vote on Right-to-Work

Daily Athenaeum - Union leaders in West Virginia are angry over the state's right-to-work legislation expected to pass this year. The House of Delegates is expected to vote today on the bill after a last-minute amendment from the judiciary committee. ReadExperts agree that the legislation, which 25 other states have already passed, will drive down…

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February 3, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
The Legislature Today: Economists Debate Prevailing Wage

West Virginia Public Broadcasting - Democratic Senators continued with attempts to slow or kill a bill that repeals the state's prevailing wage, but the GOP majority maintains the bill will help West Virginia's economy. ListenSean O'Leary with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and John Deskins with the West Virginia University Bureau of…

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February 3, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Cutting SNAP Benefits Would Cost WV Economy

West Virginia Public News Service - Some state lawmakers want to make it harder for single adults to collect SNAP benefits. Critics say that would cost West Virginia's economy tens of millions of dollars a year. A plan at the legislature would make it more difficult for adults without dependents or disabilities to collect from…

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February 1, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Other States Facing Severance Tax Shortfalls

Beckley Register-Herald - As officials in Charleston grapple with how to tackle West Virginia's $354 million budget shortfall, due largely to less than expected severance tax collections, states facing similar financial gaps are using other ways to shore up their finances. ReadNearly one out of every seven dollars going into West Virginia's coffers comes from…

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January 29, 2016 by Ted Boettner
Unions, Business at Odds on Right-to-Work in WV

Charleston Gazette-Mail - Would a right-to-work law bring more jobs to West Virginia? ReadWould a right-to-work law lower wages in West Virginia?There is evidence to support both points, and business and labor leaders made familiar arguments during a public hearing on right-to-work in the West Virginia House of Delegates chamber Thursday.A right-to-work bill (SB 1)…

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January 29, 2016 by Ted Boettner
House Holds Public Hearing on Right to Work

Beckley Register-Herald - Thursday's public hearing on right to work — or the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act (SB 1) — produced little in the way of new thought from either side of the issue, but it produced about two dozen people who shared their views with members of the House Committee on the Judiciary.…

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January 28, 2016 by Ted Boettner
Legislation Enabling WV to Pay Its Bills Passes State Senate

Charleston Gazette-Mail - The West Virginia Senate waived its normal constitutional rules Wednesday to pass four pieces of legislation which must be enacted by the end of the month for the state to keep paying its bills on time. ReadThe four bills (SB 342, 357, 360 and 364) shuffle money among various government accounts so…

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January 26, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Murray Urges Bigger Cut than West Virginia Governor Laid Out

Associated Press, Charlotte Observer, Houston Chronicle, Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram, Wheeling Intelligencer - West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin plans to give struggling coal producers a break by dropping a tax used to pay off a workers' compensation debt. ReadMassive coal company Murray Energy, however, isn't satisfied with just eliminating the extra 56-cent-per-ton cost. Amid a dire…

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