West Virginia does not yet have a budget for the upcoming fiscal year which starts on July 1. Governor Tomblin is expecting to call legislators in for a special session but no date has been announced. At issue is how to bridge the $239 million budget shortfall. The governor, the Senate and the House have all presented different solutions, with the House making no recommendations that would increase revenue.
Cuts alone will cause further damage to the state’s economy. The state has already endured years of cutbacks, especially to higher education. By solving the budget shortfall with only cuts, the Governor’s office predicts hundreds of teachers will be laid off, the Promise scholarship would be ended and institutions would have to shut their doors.
Here are our recommendations on how to balance the budget without forcing another round of draconian cuts.
Here’s Ted on West Virginia Public Broadcasting discussing our latest report.
Want to know more about a balanced budget approach that includes an investment in shared prosperity? Join our staff on Monday, April 11 from 11:30AM – 1:00PM for Lunch and Learn at the West Virginia Covenant House, 600 Shrewsbury St, Charleston.
Bring a lunch and join the conversation! Please RSVP here.
Lucy Boettner makes sushi at pre-school.
West Virginia has a proud history of keeping predatory payday lenders out of our state. This spring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFBP) will issue a rule to regulate the payday lending industry.
Payday lenders are aggressively lobbying the CFPB and Congress to weaken and delay the rule. Please add your name to this letter that will be hand delivered to CFPB Director Cordray urging him to issue a strong payday lending rule.
Help protect West Virginia, and the rest of the nation, from the debt trap caused by these predatory lenders! Sign the petition here.
For generations, West Virginia has been closely linked to its mainstay economic drivers such as coal. With sharp declines in coal production, however, there is a pressing need to both continue to diversify the state’s economy and step up to protect West Virginia’s most significantly impacted communities. While a few national policymakers are beginning to recognize the need for addressing the devastating impacts being borne by coal communities arising from global energy transitions, more work is needed.
West Virginia’s needs must be central in these discussions to help shape the policy response and strategies. This conference will begin to examine the effect of trends in the coal industry, the economy-wide repercussions within Central Appalachia, and possible solutions for West Virginia that would put the state and its people on our most resilient path forward.
This free, one-day conference on April 8 features speakers from industry, academic institutions, public policy organizations, and environmental groups, highlighted by keynote speaker Senator Jay Rockefeller.
The Conference is presented by WVU’s John D. Rockefeller IV School of Policy and Politics and WVU Law’s Center for Energy & Sustainable Development
The conference is free, but registration is requested for lunch.
It’s time to register for this year’s Our Children Our Future Summit and Annual meeting.
April 22, 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM, Pierpont College, Fairmont, WV
Join us for the first-ever Summer Policy Institute this July at West Virginia Wesleyan College!
Applications are due April 30, 2016.
For more information, please call Tara at 304-720-8682 or go here.
