WVCBP in the News

March 31, 2014 by Ted Boettner
Statehouse Beat: Fairs and Festivals Survive State Budget Cuts

Charleston Gazette - Meanwhile, Ted Boettner, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, takes the time to read the fine print in the budget bill. Read Boettner found at least 12 other accounts where the Legislature's appropriations were larger than Tomblin's proposed budget, but were not rolled back by the governor…

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March 27, 2014 by Sean O'Leary
Many Big Corporations Paying No State Taxes

West Virginia Public News Service - Many huge, profitable corporations pay no state taxes, according to a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. Read The report looks at 300 Fortune 500 companies that made a profit every year from 2008 to 2012 and found at least…

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March 27, 2014 by Ted Boettner
Don’t Sign Flawed Minimum Wage Bill

Wheeling Intelligencer - Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is being urged by liberal groups to sign a bill he has good reason to believe was not what West Virginia legislators intended. Read As we reported last week, a bill to increase the state-required minimum wage was approved overwhelmingly by both the state Senate and House of…

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March 26, 2014 by Ted Boettner
Minimum Wage Law May Hike Pay for Other Workers

Beckley Register Herald - Employers ready to budget for next year's minimum wage increase may want to look at another, perhaps unintended, consequence of the law that will raise wages for approximately 100,000 state residents. Read Because of a change in the State Code's definitions, workers formerly exempt from overtime laws may now be eligible…

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March 26, 2014 by Sean O'Leary
Debate Continues on Bill to Raise State’s Minimum Wage

Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram - Even though the Legislature's proposal to raise the state's minimum wage has moved to Gov. Tomblin's desk, debate over the bill continues. Read In a conference call Tuesday, Brian Peterson, an attorney with Bowles Rice and a member of the firm's Labor and Employment Group, said the bill could have an unintended…

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March 26, 2014 by Ted Boettner
Center Urges Tomblin to Sign Minimum Wage Increase

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy is urging Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to sign the bill passed by the Legislature that would raise West Virginia's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $8.75 an hour by 2016. Read Earlier this month, the Senate passed its version of the bill 31-1…

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March 26, 2014 by Ted Boettner
Attorney Warns of Flaws in Minimum Wage Bill

Charleston Daily Mail - A Bowles Rice attorney says the Legislature's bill to increase West Virginia's minimum wage has unintended consequences for most state employers. Read Brian Peterson, of the law firm's Martinsburg office, said Tuesday House Bill 4283 not only raises the minimum wage, but also requires employers with six or more employees to…

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March 23, 2014 by WVCBP
Enrollment Numbers Low but Steady as ACA Deadline Nears

Charleston Gazette - The deadline to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act and avoid a tax penalty is fast approaching, and while state officials and private insurers say enrollment is up, the numbers fall short of expectations. Read

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March 21, 2014 by Ted Boettner
Tomblin Cuts $67 Million from Budget

Charleston Daily Mail - Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin cut nearly $67 million from the 2015 budget before signing the measure into law Thursday. Read While Tomblin and other state leaders celebrated a bill later in the day that includes a potential tax credit for The Greenbrier with cake, a National Football League coach and a…

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March 13, 2014 by Ted Boettner
Analyst: Future Fund Will Need Miracle to Grow

Wheeling Intelligencer - West Virginia's newly created Future Fund could still be sitting empty five years from now unless the state finds a way to grow its Rainy Day Fund by about $126 million by then, according to West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy Executive Director Ted Boettner. Read During the final days of…

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