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February 17, 2023 by
What’s a Sustainable Plan for West Virginia’s “Surplus”?

The 2023 state legislative session has seen both chambers heavily focused on turning the state’s revenue “surplus” into personal income tax cuts, despite the clear need for new spending after four years of austerity forced by flat budgets. We’ve covered at length the temporary factors driving the surplus, as well as the fallacy of calling it a surplus at…

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July 17, 2013 by
SNAP Cuts Could Hurt West Virginia Families

Last week, the U.S. House passed a "farm bill" that for the first time in decades did not include food assistance or SNAP (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) for vulnerable children and families. This move came on the heels of an earlier version passed by the U.S. House in June that reduced SNAP…

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June 8, 2017 by
New Tax Plan Still Raises Sales Tax to Pay for Income Tax Cuts

The conference committee in the West Virginia legislature met today to discuss the latest iteration of the tax plan that aims to balance the state's budget for next year and beyond.  The new tax plan draft includes many items in previous versions of tax bills, but the "triggers" for the phase-out of the personal income…

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July 10, 2015 by
Fast Facts: Ending West Virginia’s Prevailing Wage Won’t Reduce Costs

Some lawmakers are claiming West Virginia’s prevailing wage overpays construction workers and inflates the costs of public construction projects, but the evidence does not support these claims. Ending the state’s prevailing wage is likely to have no impact on public construction costs but could hurt the living standards of construction workers and the competitiveness of…

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May 24, 2017 by
Senate Tax Plan Punches More Holes Into Budget (Updated)

Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee passed an amended tax bill (HB 107) aimed at addressing the state's budget shortfall, which was pegged at $497 million (or about 12 percent of the base budget) at the beginning of the year. Unlike the version of the bill passed by House, the Senate version creates net revenue losses…

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August 20, 2021 by
American Rescue Plan Act’s Education Funds Can Address Inequity in West Virginia’s Public Schools

It is no question that students in West Virginia and across the country suffered academic losses in connection to COVID-19’s impacts on instruction and learning time. Our new issue brief explores how American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) education funds can be utilized to address these losses, as well as longstanding challenges and racial inequity in West Virginia…

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May 10, 2024 by
SNAP Restrictions Fail to Connect Vulnerable Residents to Work While Straining Charitable Food Providers

In July 2023, West Virginia reimplemented pre-pandemic time limits for some adults receiving food assistance via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The time limits apply to adults between 18 and 52 (up to 54 in September 2024) without a documented disability and without children under 18 in the household, often referred to as “able-bodied…

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February 12, 2021 by
Gov. Justice Outlines Harmful Plan to Eliminate State Personal Income Tax During State of the State Address

The Governor's annual State of the State address took place this Wednesday evening. During the address, Governor Justice previewed a troubling plan to eliminate the income tax by increasing the sales tax, cutting services, and using one-time federal stimulus money to close the gap. Here's WVCBP executive director Kelly Allen's statement on the address: "Every good…

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