When the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the closing of public schools in March 2020, there was an immediate and robust community response to make sure that children who received their meals at school would still have enough to eat. As uplifting as the stories about volunteers and restaurants providing these food resources are, they also shone…
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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
This report is the seventh in an annual series that examines the state of West Virginia’s economy as it impacts working people. Each year, we examine the latest available data on employment, income, productivity and job quality as well as the immediate economic challenges and opportunities. Read PDF of report. The themes have varied from…
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…
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…