Charleston Gazette-Mail, Huntington Herald-Dispatch - Gov. Jim Justice on Thursday unveiled the long-awaited details of his proposal to cut the state personal income tax — a plan that would use more than $900 million a year in tax hikes to partially offset a $1.07 billion reduction in income tax revenue. Read the full article. Justice,…
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West Virginia MetroNews - Gov. Jim Justice says he likes some aspects of a new Senate tax plan and really dislikes several others: fewer business groups “pulling the rope,” the loss of rebate checks for lower-income residents and reinstitution of the food tax. Read the full article. And the governor wishes someone had taken just…
WCHS - The West Virginia Senate's version of the House's income tax reduction bill narrowly cleared committee Tuesday. Read the full article. It adds $800-900 million in tax increases, raising the sales tax to 8.5% and reestablishing a 2.5% food tax. "It could be a huge economic stimulus for our state, a huge spur of population growth…
West Virginia Public Broadcasting - A bill to rewrite state law for hundreds of criminal offenses cleared the House of Delegates following less than half an hour of debate Wednesday. Read the full article. Over the course of nearly 400 pages, House Bill 2017 updates hundreds of crimes and replaces the state’s process for sentencing with a…
Mountain State Spotlight, Beckley Register-Herald - Even though more families are struggling to get enough food as the pandemic continues, hunger-related bills aren’t among the measures rapidly moving through the West Virginia Legislative session. Read the full article. West Virginia was already one of the country’s hungriest states pre-pandemic. And the problem has only gotten worse…
Charleston Gazette-Mail, Huntington Herald-Dispatch - As Kanawha County faces an impending HIV outbreak that could cost billions in taxpayer dollars, the West Virginia Senate’s Health and Human Resources Committee entertained a bill Thursday that would make it more difficult to operate programs proven to slow such diseases and save lives. Read the full article. Senate Bill 334 would…
West Virginia MetroNews - Gov. Jim Justice has repeated an idea of setting aside financial “surplus,” built on the strength of federal relief dollars, into a “bucket” while touting his income tax cut proposal that could leave a big hole in the state budget. Read the full article. Analysts say it’s doubtful West Virginia could…
Mountain State Spotlight - $47 million. Read the full article. That’s the approximate lifetime cost of treating just the people in Kanawha County diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis C in 2019. The estimate from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, looked at the financial impact of the 14 HIV cases linked to injection drug use…
WOWK - More money is likely coming from Washington, DC to the states for COVID-19 relief. Most everyone agrees that additional vaccines and testing supplies are badly needed – there are disputes over things such as unemployment extensions, and whether the benefit should be 300 or 600 dollars per week. And critics say only a…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Visions of a more prosperous West Virginia abounded during a virtual news conference Thursday that focused on new findings from an economic and job impact study that made the case for sweeping investments in Appalachian infrastructure. Read the full article. It’ll take a lot of money and political willpower to make those visions a…