Josh Lohnes, Food Policy Research Director for West Virginia University's Food Justice Lab, authored this guest blog post. The WVU Food Justice Lab is an experimental space for research and action focused on challenging food system inequalities. As part of their food security work, Dr. Lohnes and his team estimated the potential impacts in West Virginia…
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One in four children in West Virginia lived in poverty in 2022, the second highest rate of any state in the country. With the state pursuing education reform focused on funneling taxpayer funding out of public schools and into the private sector via the Hope Scholarship, West Virginia's voucher program which is growing more expensive…
This week, the Senate Finance Committee took up HB 3300, the House’s personal income tax cut plan, and made significant changes before quickly passing it out of committee. Unlike the House plan, which phased out the income tax over time with no revenue offsets, the Senate’s plan is more similar to the governor’s proposal, making a…
In 2017, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) launched a three-year pilot program that screened drug use among recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Otherwise known as WV WORKS, TANF provides cash assistance for low-income families and helps with child care, skills training, and job searching. As the pilot…
This past Saturday at midnight, the West Virginia Legislature adjourned sine die after a long sixty days. Going into the session, the WVCBP team’s single largest goal was to protect the personal income tax, our state’s fairest tax and its largest source of revenue. We are thrilled to say that we, in coalition with many…
The health and economic impacts of COVID-19 have exacerbated longstanding economic inequities faced by West Virginians. Thankfully, the recent stimulus and rescue packages have shown us a way to rebuild from the pandemic by investing in families. In particular, the expansions of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in the American Rescue Plan (ARP)…
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…
Hospitals serve a vital role in any community, providing life-saving care to the injured and ill while contributing significant dollars and hours to community service. For example, an article in yesterday's Charleston Daily Mail proclaims that the Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) "reports $115 million in area benefit" in 2012. These benefits included training classes…
Making ends meet is a struggle for many West Virginians employed in lower-wage jobs. In fact, 23% of workers in West Virginia are employed in low-wage jobs and a quarter of those live in poverty. People working in their communities as daycare workers, restaurant servers, home health aides, administrative assistants, and many other lower-income jobs deserve to be able to…
Yesterday a Republican-proposed COVID relief package failed to pass the U.S. Senate. While West Virginia's communities desperately need additional relief, the provisions included in this legislation were far too meager to meet the immediate and ongoing needs of our state and people. WVCBP interim executive director stated in a press release yesterday: "Today's COVID proposal,…