Public Education Celebrating Ten Years of SPI June 27–29 at West Virginia State University Summer Policy Institute 2025 is almost here! SPI is a convening focused on policy, where participants will learn the ins and outs of policy change, as well as crucial skills rooted in community engagement and grassroots mobilization. Policy sessions will equip…
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When the COVID-19 pandemic began, West Virginia law enforcement and corrections officials moved quickly to reduce jail and prison populations. And while the prison population has remained lower than normal, since April, the jail population has steadily increased and was more than 35 percent overcapacity as of November 12. Among the reasons for the burgeoning…
To get a sense of a state's values, one often need look no further than its tax system. What a state spends its tax dollars on and how it acquires those tax dollars typically reveals a lot about the priorities of its people-what they care about and what they stand for. In theory, it's a…
For Immediate ReleaseContact: Linda Frame, 304-720-8682(Charleston, WV) Today the Invest in Working Families Coalition launched its interactive tool to show how a West Virginia Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can help working families make ends meet while boosting the economy. The coalition is made up of 18 groups from across the state coming together to…
The cost of prescription drugs is one of the leading health care issues in the United States, accounting for $335 billion of total health care spending in 2018 [1] and over 23 percent of total health insurance premium costs.[2] And the cost of prescription drugs is rising. The cost of prescription drugs is one of…
The Affordable Care Act is expected to have a dramatic impact on access to health insurance in West Virginia. This will be especially true for racial and ethnic minorities. Even though the minority population in West Virginia is relatively small compared to other states, it is 50 percent more likely to lack health insurance than…
The Working Families Tax Relief Act would boost incomes for 131,000 moms and 276,000 children in West Virginia by expanding the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). The benefits of lifting families out of poverty include healthier birth weights, lower maternal stress, better childhood nutrition, higher school enrollment, higher reading…
One of the most significant bills passed during the 2020 legislative session is expected to go into effect on January 1, 2021. SB 648 adds a dental benefit to the state’s adult Medicaid program, extending this important coverage to an estimated 310,733 West Virginia adults. The legislation provides for each adult Medicaid recipient to be…
As the date rolls closer for the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act and in the same week that the U.S. House of Representatives voted for the thirty-odd time to repeal the law, the Wheeling Intelligencer reported on a doctor forced to close his doors due to Obamacare. The reason given is that the…
Read the full report here. Executive Summary There is no doubt to residents and policymakers in West Virginia that the state has a drug epidemic problem that is costly in terms of lives lost annually, as well as expenses incurred for medical and mental health treatment, for law enforcement, and for social services provision. In…