WVCBP in the News

November 27, 2013 by Ted Boettner
Jay Says Cut in Food Aid Hurts West Virginia

Charleston Gazette - Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said thousands of West Virginians celebrating Thanksgiving will be plagued by "devastating" reductions in federal food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Department of Agriculture's Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Read In his weekly Wednesday column, Rockefeller wrote, "It's a time of gratitude and…

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November 25, 2013 by Ted Boettner
Editorial: Gas Boom, How Many Jobs?

Charleston Gazette - Last winter, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy predicted that the snowballing Marcellus Shale gas boom and spinoff industries will create 30,000 high-paying West Virginia jobs by 2020 and 58,000 by 2035 -- vastly outstripping the fading coal industry. Read Projections in a three-part study titled "America's New…

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November 25, 2013 by Ted Boettner
Should WV SOAR Like KY?

West Virginia Public News Service - Kentucky political leaders across party lines are looking for ways to diversify their state's economy, after big job losses hit the coal industry. Some feel West Virginia leaders need to do the same. On Dec. 9, Kentucky will host a Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) symposium in Pikeville to…

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November 23, 2013 by Ted Boettner
Editorial: Liberals Think Taxes Too Low

Wheeling Intelligencer - Ever notice, fellow taxpayers, how liberals are quick to inform us we're not sending enough of our hard-earned dollars to Charleston and Washington? It's happening again in West Virginia. Read Later this year, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin probably is going to have to order another round of spending cuts in West Virginia…

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November 22, 2013 by Ted Boettner
Shale Gas Job Numbers ‘Exaggerated’?

Charleston Gazette - The boom in shale-gas drilling accounts for thousands of regional jobs but has not lived up to some of the most optimistic estimates offered by industry backers, according to a report released Thursday. Read Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations has created jobs, especially in Pennsylvania and West…

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November 18, 2013 by Sean O'Leary
Reading Between the Lines in Charleston

It has been a long-standing joke between older members of the West Virginia Legislature and legislative staffers who are also veterans of the system that fiscal notes attached to proposed bills indicating the potential costs of that particular piece of legislation are often designed to reflect the desires of the bill's sponsors. Read In other…

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November 17, 2013 by Sean O'Leary
Editorial: Cost Impact of Legislation Often Used As a Political Tool

Huntington Herald-Dispatch - It has been a long-standing joke between older members of the West Virginia Legislature and legislative staffers who are also veterans of the system that fiscal notes attached to proposed bills indicating the potential costs of that particular piece of legislation are often designed to reflect the desires of the bill's sponsors. Read…

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November 14, 2013 by Sean O'Leary
Editorial: Estimate Bills’ Cost Accurately

Wheeling Intelligencer - West Virginia legislators, not to mention taxpayers, deserve accurate estimates of what proposed new laws will cost. Lawmakers are not getting them - and know it -according to a report issued this week. Read Changes are needed in how the costs of legislative proposals are calculated, the West Virginia Center on Budget…

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November 14, 2013 by Ted Boettner
WLU: State Budget Cuts Hurting Young People

Wheeling Intelligencer - State budget cuts are making it harder for young people to obtain college degrees in West Virginia at a time when more employers won't let them get a foot in the door without one, West Liberty University students, staff and parents told legislators Wednesday. Read The conversation over lunch at the university's…

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November 13, 2013 by Sean O'Leary
Report: Fiscal Notes for West Virginia Legislation Flawed

West Virginia Public Broadcasting - A new report says the Legislature should change the way fiscal notes are prepared for legislation. Read The report from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy says fiscal notes are generally inaccurate, often biased, inconsistent and lacking in details.

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