Beckley Register-Herald - Gov. Jim Justice needs to immediately classify grocery store, food processing and pharmacy workers who must work during this pandemic as first responders through Executive Order. Read op-ed. Being classified as an “essential” employee during the COVID-19 pandemic and response may guarantee you keep your paycheck, but it doesn’t keep you and…
Search Results
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will allocate more than $1.355 billion in federal relief funds to the state of West Virginia to address the ongoing economic and health impacts of the pandemic. Recently, members of legislative leadership have called for a special session to fulfill the mandate set forth in House Bill 2014, which provides for legislative oversight for any…
Social Security Tax Cut Would Mostly Favor the Wealthy In his State of the State address, Governor Jim Justice proposed the elimination of the personal income tax on Social Security income. Justice's proposal, S.B 342, would completely exclude Social Security benefits from the state income tax, similar to how the state treats military retirement income.…
Summit on Race Matters in Appalachia Almost Here Time is running out to register for the Summit on Race Matters in Appalachia. Please take a minute to fill out the easy on-line registration form today to hold your reservation! Register now! Thanks to generous funding from foundations and organizations, there is limited scholarship money available.…
Summer Policy Institute 2024 is almost here! SPI is a convening focused on policy, where participants learn the ins and outs of policy change through a research and data lens, as well as crucial skills rooted in community engagement and grassroots mobilization. Attendees will meet West Virginia leaders from government, non-profit advocacy, and grassroots organizing spaces to…
In some good news this week, we are excited to welcome two new staff members to our team! Quenton King is our new Criminal Justice Policy Analyst. Before joining WVCBP, Quenton worked for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Environmental and Climate Justice Program as a field organizer and policy specialist. Most…
Despite record-low unemployment rates and fully recovered employment and labor force participation rates, West Virginia is still down 24,300 jobs from its pre-pandemic level. The primary driving force behind this discrepancy is that West Virginia continues to experience population loss. While there is currently a higher percentage of West Virginians working than there was during the height…
West Virginia One of Just Eight States Still Cutting Funding for Higher Education Now that the recession is in the past, most states are restoring funding to higher education. West Virginia, however, is still reducing funding, second only to Wyoming, spending 21.6% less per student in FY 2014 than in FY2008, a reduction of over…
After the Trump administration announced last year that it would support state efforts to add “work requirements” waivers to their Medicaid programs, no less than 15 states have filed for these waivers. In addition to value statements around such things as “fairness”, proponents of these work requirements argue (under the administration’s guidance) that work requirements…
The 2024 West Virginia regular legislative session kicked off this past Wednesday, January 10. WVCBP executive director, Kelly Allen, issued the following statement in response to Governor Justice’s State of the State address: Unfortunately, the rosy picture Governor Justice painted is not the reality for many West Virginians in counties all over the state who’ve seen too…