For Immediate Release: March 2, 2026
Contact: Kelly Allen, (304)-612-4180
CHARLESTON, WV — This morning, a coalition of education, health care, faith-based, and child-focused organizations gathered at the state Capitol to deliver a clear and urgent message to our lawmakers: West Virginians deserve investment in people, care, and public infrastructure, not reckless tax cuts that favor the wealthiest few and industry special interests.
The coalition stood united in opposition to the latest budget proposals advanced by state lawmakers, which prioritize tax cuts for the wealthy and the coal industry while failing to address critical needs in public services.
Speakers at the event called on lawmakers to prioritize investments that promote long-term prosperity rather than short-term tax cuts that jeopardize the state’s fiscal future. They also demanded greater transparency in the budget negotiation process, urging lawmakers to make discussions and decisions more accessible to the public instead of operating behind closed doors.
Participating organizations included: West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, West Virginia Association for Young Children, West Virginia School Service Personnel Association, American Friends Service Committee, From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice, League of Women Voters of West Virginia, MomsRising, SEIU 1199, TEAM for West Virginia Children/Prevent Child Abuse WV, Together for Public Schools West Virginia, West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, and West Virginia Citizen Action Group.
The gathered organizations decried the fact that not a single of the budgets presented so far address unprecedented public school closures and underfunding, expand funding for child care assistance, or meaningfully invest in pressing infrastructure needs across our state—especially in the southern coalfields.
“West Virginia lawmakers are leveraging our future and undermining the public services that grow our economy and help working people thrive,” said Dani Parent, executive director of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group. “Instead of meeting the needs of children, families, and working West Virginians, these budget proposals deliver tax breaks that disproportionately benefit the state’s wealthiest individuals and industries, leaving the rest of us tax cut crumbs while we bear the brunt of underfunded essential services.”
Most notably, the House version of the budget underfunds Medicaid by a staggering $94 million, which includes a $10 million cut to to the agency’s I/DD waiver program funding request, directly impacting our most vulnerable populations.
Sherri McKinney, executive vice president of SEIU 1199 said, “Let’s be honest about what cuts to Medicaid and the waiver program actually mean: It means fewer service hours, it means longer waiting lists, it means families pushed to the brink, it means rural providers shutting down. And when community services collapse, the cost does not disappear–it explodes.”
While lawmakers found hundreds of millions of dollars for tax cuts and to expand the Hope Scholarship voucher program in this budget, they failed to advance any new budget dollars that would invest in our public schools to meet the needs of special education students, strengthen rural community schools, or address unprecedented public school closures.
Joe White, executive director of the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association said West Virginia needs to get our priorities straight. “When a neighborhood loses its school, soon follows the community. If we can’t afford to staff our schools and keep the doors open, we can’t afford tax cuts that are mostly going to benefit the wealthiest people in this state.”
Regarding the state legislature’s lack of investment in clean water and infrastructure, Reverend Caitlin Ware of From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice said, “We were promised this legislative session would prioritize economic development. Instead it hurt working families. You can’t drink tax cuts.”
You can watch a recording of the press conference here.
