Blog Posts > It’s Time for a Tax Cut for Working Families
August 26, 2016

It’s Time for a Tax Cut for Working Families

Families who struggle to pay for expenses put most of their money right back into the economy when they buy necessities. A West Virginia Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) would give these families an additional boost at tax time and generate millions of dollars in local West Virginia communities.

This week the Charleston Gazette editorial page endorsed this important policy already in effect in 26 other states. You can learn more about how it would impact your local legislative district at www.investinwvfamilies.org.

Read more in this piece by State EITC Campaign Coordinator Seth DiStefano.

Please Add Your Voice Today to Keep Payday Loans Out of West Virginia

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed rules that, if strengthened, could rein in the worst abuses of payday and car title lending. Thankfully, West Virginia protects against abusive payday and car title loans, but the CFPB still needs to hear from you.

Take this quick action to add your voice now to stop the debt trap – please add a personal note if payday lending has affected you or someone you know!

Payday loans notoriously carry 300+% APR (annual percentage rate). Strategically located in low-income neighborhoods, payday lenders intentionally trap borrowers in debt that they cannot escape. The average payday borrower is trapped by ten transactions in a year.

Though payday lenders are not allowed in our state, we still need a strong national rule. Payday lenders will use a weak rule to seek a green light to come back into West Virginia.

Support a strong rule to stop these predatory practices.

Want to know more about how much better off West Virginia is without payday lending? Check out this new report by the Center for Responsible Lending. Every year, residents in states that ban payday lending save over $2 billion in fees. West Virginia alone saves over $48 million annually!

What Does West Virginia’s Budget Crisis Mean to You?

This fall, WVCBP staff will travel across the state to talk to people about what the ongoing budget crisis means in people’s every-day lives.

Next month, Executive Director Ted Boettner will kick-off our speaker series at the West Virginia University Campus on Tuesday, September 6 at 2:00 PM at the Mountainlair.

Contact us for more information. Visit our Events page for future presentations. Thanks!

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WVCBP Board President Joins National Health Impact Project

Renate Pore, WVCBP board president, has been invited to join a community advisory panel to provide guidance and strategic input to projects and investments in southern and Appalachian states. Renate was selected as a community-based leader with expertise in, and a commitment to, advancing health equity in the region.

The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, is a national initiative designed to promote the use of health impact assessments (HIAs) as a decision-making tool for policymakers.

Congratulations, Renate!

Happy Women’s Equality Day!

Today, we mark nearly a century of celebrating the 19th amendment, granting women the right to vote. We should never let go of that legacy, we should never become complacent with that hard-won gift.

Today, we celebrate this right, but in November, please do not forget to exercise it. My five-year-old daughter, Tova, notices everything, and has gone with me to vote in municipal, state, and national elections. She knows that when the polls are open we go vote with Mommy. It is my job to teach her this practice as a good citizen, and the history, because unless we teach them, they will assume women could always vote.

We should always teach our daughters, and sons, about the fight and the victory, but most importantly about exercising the right to walk into a voting booth and make change as a citizen.

Honor those who fought for this right by making sure you are registered to participate in the November election. Register online here.

#RememberInNovember

~ Tara Martinez, WVCBP Policy Outreach Coordinator

Tova Martinez Walking the Halls of Her Capitol

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