WVCBP in the News

March 19, 2016 by Ted Boettner
WV Extends Deadline for SNAP Work Requirement

Charleston Gazette-Mail - Food-stamp recipients in nine West Virginia counties have another month to tell to state officials they're either working or in training before they lose those benefits. Read"Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents" who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance in Berkeley, Cabell, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Marion, Monongalia, Morgan and Putnam counties are required to call the…

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March 15, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Tobacco Tax Affects State Revenue

Daily Athenaeum - Senate Bill 420—which would raise taxes on all tobacco products—was stalled in the House Finance Committee this past legislative session. However, there is still a chance for a recovery in a special legislative session this spring, and its implications would be tremendous for the state but devastating for one specific business. ReadThe…

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March 13, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Will 2016 Be the Year West Virginia Breaks Free of the Fossil Fuel Cartel?

Even before the 2016 gubernatorial race begins in earnest, Senate President Bill Cole (R – Mercer) has already received substantial contributions from oil and gas interests in West Virginia. He has been endorsed by a super PAC that has so far raised $70,600 ($10,000 from oil and gas interests), and he has been backed by…

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March 11, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
House OKs Drug Testing Welfare Recipients

Huntington Herald-Dispatch - The West Virginia House of Delegates has approved a bill that would establish a three-year pilot program to drug screen and test certain applicants for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, commonly referred to as TANF. ReadThe House voted 91-8 Wednesday to approve Senate Bill 6, which would require officials with…

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March 8, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Editorial: Is Drug-Testing Welfare Recipients the Right Course of Action?

Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram - As fiscal conservatives and social advocates, we're as angry as the majority of people when we hear of welfare recipients who abuse the system, taking advantage of what should be a hand up and exploiting it for an unintended use. ReadWith that being said, it would seem that drug testing welfare recipients…

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March 7, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Advocates Criticize Push to Drug Test Welfare Recipients

Charleston Gazette-Mail - Over objections from social workers, anti-poverty advocates and psychologists, a push to mandate drug testing for welfare recipients is racing toward final passage in the West Virginia Legislature. ReadState lawmakers are backing legislation (SB 6) that would require drug tests for about 4,000 adults who apply for cash assistance through the Temporary…

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March 6, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Policy Analyst: Tomblin’s Budget Approach Called ‘Fairly Balanced’

Beckley Register-Herald -West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy analyst Sean O'Leary said Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's approach was "fairly balanced" and for the first time in years offered a revenue increase, instead of just budget cuts. Read"We've significantly cut almost every other area of the budget outside of Medicaid," O'Leary said. "Every major department…

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March 5, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Speakers at Public Hearing Against Drug Testing TANF Recipients

Beckley Register-Herald - Several speakers at a public hearing in the House of Delegates Chamber Friday morning said drug testing welfare recipients is a bad idea because of basic privacy rights issues and the likely low number of positive tests. ReadACLU legal director Jamie Lynn Crofts said drug testing of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families…

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March 4, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Welfare Drug Testing Bill Criticized in House Committee Hearing

West Virginia Metro News - Opponents of a bill that would require drug testing of welfare recipients say it's a measure that targets the poor. Read"Investing in substance abuse treatment is an efficient use of taxpayer dollars, but expensive and unnecessary policies that are based more on stereotype and punishing the poor rather than on…

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March 4, 2016 by Sean O'Leary
Still Concerns over Welfare Drug Testing Bill

WDTV - Friday morning at a public hearing before the House Judiciary Committee many spoke out against a bill that passed in the Senate around a month ago. Read/Watch That bill is Senate Bill Six, which would require drug testing for some welfare recipients. The bill spells out a program that when there's "reasonable suspicion"…

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