The Exponent Telegram - West Virginia's 2012-13 fiscal year state revenues ended June 30 with a $90.6 million budget deficit. Many state officials claim a drop in severance tax collections on both coal and natural gas was the primary reason for this revenue shortfall. But the best-kept secret in Charleston is that the deficit could…
WVCBP in the News
The State Journal - Future college students and their parents can breathe a sigh of relief. For now. The U.S. Senate on July 24 passed legislation that would lower interest rates on federal student loans and cap those rates in the future. The Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act passed by a vote of 81-18, and…
West Virginia Public Broadcasting - According to statistics from 2010 provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, all three of the state's U.S. House Congressional districts see nearly double digits in the percentage of families who receive SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, benefits. However, proposed changes to a key piece of legislation in Washington…
West Virginia Public News Service - Supporters say immigration reform would not only help West Virginia's economy, it would also bring in millions more in state and local taxes. Read According to the non-partisan, non-profit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, West Virgina already collects nearly $4 million dollars a year from undocumented immigrants, and…
The State Journal - The U.S. Senate has voted not to proceed with legislation that would prevent interest rates on student loans from increasing — a move Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., says fails students and graduates across the country. Read
Charleston Gazette - Only in West Virginia could politicians argue over a penny, as we saw as Republicans and Democrats wrangle over who should get credit for repeal of the final 1 percent of consumer sales tax on groceries. Read The whole issue of the food tax being particularly onerous on the state's poor has…
The State Journal - President Barack Obama abruptly decided July 2 to delay a controversial provision of his Affordable Care Act, much to the delight of some of West Virginia's business and political leaders. Read The president announced he will delay the employer mandate until 2015. The provision was originally to take effect at the…
Charleston Gazette - A substantial majority of West Virginians favor a proposal to increase taxes on coal operators to create a long-term fund to help diversify the state's economy, according to a new survey conducted for the Union of Concerned Scientists. Read More than two-thirds of those surveyed by Lake Research Associates support the idea…
Charleston Gazette - Most people in West Virginia will pay less in health insurance premiums through the state's health insurance exchange than they would have in the regular insurance market before the federal Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress, according to a state-commissioned actuarial study. Read The rates are dependent on getting younger, healthy…
Charleston Gazette - Ted Boettner, executive director of the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy, said the state's political leaders are put in an awkward spot when confronted with how natural gas is edging out coal in the marketplace. Read "You can't simply push 100 percent for natural gas and 100 percent for coal,"…