Coal Tattoo Blog - There's a new report out from the Bookings Institute that's worth taking a look at. Here's what the press release says: ReadThe recent boom and bust of unconventional oil and gas development, or "fracking," has reopened serious questions about resource management in many U.S. states. While the oil and gas boom…
WVCBP in the News
West Virginia Public News Service - Some Republican lawmakers say a state Earned Income Tax Credit would add jobs by rebuilding West Virginia's workforce. ReadThe EITC is a line on federal tax forms that rewards work by low-income families. About half of states also have a state EITC. Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell County, said some…
The State Journal - While leaders in the West Virginia Senate and House of Delegates ponder what to do with a $270 million hole in the state budget, a coalition of family service organizations, religious leaders, business owners and at least two lawmakers are urging the adoption of a state Earned Income Tax Credit to…
Huntington Herald-Dispatch -In the final days of the 2016 income-tax season, two lawmakers from Cabell and Kanawha counties have teamed up to push for legislation to create an earned income tax credit in West Virginia. ReadWhile Senate and House of Delegates leadership and budget committee members were working to find a compromise on how to…
The State Journal - For decades, West Virginia's lawmakers have relied on severance taxes from the state's vast coal reserves to help balance the state's budget. The seemingly never-ending stream of coal flowing out of the state's mountains was a predictable and significant source of revenue, and a major source of funding for a state…
Charleston Gazette - Regardless of who is elected president, the coal industry of southern West Virginia will continue vanishing, former Sen. Jay Rockefeller warned a National Energy Conference last week in Morgantown. Federal pollution laws will be upheld by courts, he said, no matter how much they're attacked by coal-state politicians. ReadHis sobering words were…
Beckley Register-Herald - For over 40 years, the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has supported families who work for lower wages. It is time that West Virginia join the 26 other states in enacting a state Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC is one of the most effective tools in combating poverty and it…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - The state's plan to make some food stamp recipients in nine counties work or train or face losing those benefits will ultimately increase the burden on West Virginia's food banks, pantries and soup kitchens, advocates say. ReadThe state Department of Health and Human Resources announced late last year it would reinstate a…
West Virginia Public Broadcasting - Two weeks after the Legislature left Charleston without approving a budget for the 2017 fiscal year that begins July 1, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy is urging lawmakers to not just consider cuts when they return to complete the funding bill. Read/Listen"West Virginia should take a balanced…
Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram - With apologies to Charles Dickens, it was the best of legislative sessions or the worst of legislative sessions, depending on who's giving the critique. ReadA session that saw West Virginia become a right-to-work state and prevailing wage dropped from public construction projects is getting kudos from the business community, boos from organized…