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September 24, 2020 by
Policymakers Must Address Unique Concerns of Returning Citizens During COVID-19 Pandemic

According to a study by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, the COVID-19 mortality rate nationwide is twice as high in prisons compared to the general population. Social distancing is difficult if not impossible in correctional facilities due to their congregate nature. This, combined with the reality that incarcerated people are more likely…

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January 27, 2023 by
Join Our Team for Summer 2023!

Come work with us! We're hiring two full-time, paid summer fellows. The WVCBP seeks a Criminal Legal Policy Fellow to research and write about best practices for improving the criminal system, with a focus on the areas of excessive sentences and reducing the harms caused by jails and prisons. The WVCBP also seeks an Economic…

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February 13, 2015 by
Budget Beat – February 13, 2015

West Virginia Next State to Drug Test Welfare Recipients? A bill making its way through the West Virginia Senate would create a three-county pilot program to drug test recipients of cash assistance. At its current projected costs, the drug testing program would cost over $600 per cash assistance recipient. To put that amount into perspective,…

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March 16, 2016 by
Recap of 2016 Legislative Session

With the legislature adjourned sine die (or without assigning a day for further meeting for those needing all state business to be conducted in English,) now's a good time to look back at some of the bills made into law this past session. Here's a quick recap of some of the major bills passed by…

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April 29, 2025 by
Microgrid Legislation Aims to Lure Data Center Developers to West Virginia

Engineering News-Record East - West Virginia is gearing up to capture a big part of the booming data center market with new legislation that would allow developers to create independent microgrids to power their data centers. Read the full article. The Power Generation and Consumption Act, which is now awaiting Gov. Patrick Morriseyโ€™s signature to become…

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March 12, 2021 by
Governor Justiceโ€™s Tax Plan Favors the Wealthy, While Creating Large Holes in the Budget

Last week, Governor Justice unveiled his proposal to make sweeping changes to the stateโ€™s tax system, including a substantial cut to the stateโ€™s personal income tax, while raising a variety of sales and other taxes. The tax reform would create a dramatic change in who pays state taxes in West Virginia, shifting the responsibility onto working families to…

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March 24, 2016 by
Revenue Options Crucial to Sustaining Public Investments That Promote Shared Prosperity

When lawmakers reconvene this spring to address the stateโ€™s looming budget crisis, it is clear that West Virginia should take a balanced approach that includes additional revenue, rather than a cuts-only approach that threatens our stateโ€™s struggling economy. Our stateโ€™s worsening revenue situation isnโ€™t due entirely to plunging energy prices. Rather, that situation exacerbates the…

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February 20, 2015 by
Budget Beat – February 20, 2015

Bill to Drug Test TANF Recipients Passes First Committee The 2015 Legislative Session is now more than halfway over and there are several measures we are keeping an eye on that would impact West Virginia's working families. Yesterday the House held a public hearing on legislation that would require drug testing of Temporary Assistant to…

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January 30, 2013 by
Wealthiest West Virginians Pay a Smaller Share of State and Local Taxes

Contact: Anne Singer, 202-299-1066, ext. 27 or Ted Boettner, 304-720-8682, tboettner@wvpolicy.org Read report New 50-State Study Provides Detailed Profiles and Comparisons of Tax Systems and Distribution Like most state tax systems, West Virginia takes a larger share from middle- and low-income families than from wealthy families, according to the fourth edition of "Who Pays? A…

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