Huntington Herald-Dispatch, Charleston-Gazette - A new report from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy has estimated the addiction epidemic cost the state $11.3 billion in 2019 alone. Read the full article. The report, written by economist Jill Kriesky, examines the dollars spent on treating and addressing the diverse array of harms that stem…
WVCBP in the News
Charleston Gazette-Mail - March 24, 2021 is Equal Pay Day, the day when women and men around the country recognize the wage gap between working women and men and offer remedies to address pay inequity. Read the full op-ed. In West Virginia, women are paid, on average, 74 cents for every dollar their male counterparts…
Beckley Register-Herald - The state Senate, despite overwhelming evidence and expert testimony from doctors and public health officials begging them to avoid a certain crisis on our streets and back alleys, passed a bill this past week that places greater restrictions on community syringe exchange programs. read the full op-ed. Why? Because of tired and…
West Virginia MetroNews - The state Senate is considering a resolution that could allow lawmakers to lower personal property taxes, particularly on vehicles. Read the full article. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the resolution Thursday after about an hour of discussion, and it will now be considered by the Senate Finance Committee. If both houses of the…
The Dominion Post, Yahoo News - The Senate Judiciary gave its approval Thursday to a proposed constitutional amendment that would give the Legislature the power to control personal property tax rates. Opponents worry such a move could blow holes in county budgets and force the counties to raise property tax rates. Read the full article.…
West Virginia MetroNews - Both houses of the Legislature have passed a bill that would divert dollars for students leaving public schools for private school or homeschooling. Read the full article. And the governor let go into law without his signature a bill clarifying that strikes against the state by public employees including educators are unlawful. The…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - I’ve been following the governor and Legislature’s 2021 mind-numbing attempts to force West Virginia’s laws and constitution to waste money, crush public education, poison our water and generally make life more difficult for those already suffering from poverty and systemic racism. Read the full letter to the editor. I couldn’t agree more…
Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia Public Broadcasting - So far, Gov. Jim Justice has been the sole authority spending the $1.25 billion West Virginia received in federal coronavirus relief. Read the full article. Advocates have argued that he hasn’t spent enough of it to address the immediate needs of West Virginians facing the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic…
West Virginia MetroNews - The West Virginia Business & Industry Council is raising concerns that Gov. Jim Justice’s big plan would zoom to the top of the wrong ranking. Read the full article. “West Virginia will have the highest state consumer sales tax in the nation at 7.9 percent,” the broad-based business organization wrote in a…
West Virginia MetroNews - A bill allowing families to use public money for private education costs is on the edge of passing West Virginia’s Legislature. Read the full article. “I am very proud to support this bill,” said Senator Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, a pastor who is also administrator of the private school Victory Baptist Academy.…