Vote for the Issues You Care About The polls are open both for early voting in West Virginia's primary and for the Our Children Our Future issue ballot. Have you voted? Choose from a selection of topics in three pillars. Your vote is important! It will be shared with legislators so they know your legislative…
Search Results
In the spring of 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to address the ongoing economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to historic reductions in child poverty through the expanded Child Tax Credit, ARPA’s Fiscal Recovery Funds to states and localities were among the most impactful parts of the legislation. In West Virginia,…
With the unofficial end of summer passing with Labor Day, now is a good time to check in on West Virginia's economy. And while the nation as a whole has experienced a strong recovery from the pandemic, West Virginia is lagging behind on several key indicators over the past year. The national economy has added…
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides crucial nutrition assistance to low-income individuals and households whose incomes are at or below 130 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($16,744/annually for an individual and $28,548/annually for a household of three). Along with unemployment insurance, SNAP is the most responsive aid program providing assistance during economic downturns.…
Although a "fiscal cliff" deal to prevent tax hikes and sweeping spending cuts was brokered at the eleventh hour, West Virginians will still see a tax increase. The rarely mentioned payroll tax holiday has officially expired, impacting the paychecks of about 900,000 working West Virginians. Enacted in 2010, the payroll tax holiday was designed to…
Economic View The Rock and the Hard Place on the Deficit By CHRISTINA D. ROMER Published: July 2, 2011 DEALING with our nation's gaping budget deficit is going to hurt. So here is a question for policy makers: What would hurt more, raising taxes or reducing spending? Mike Austin The Republicans who walked out of…
New Republic - The expanded child tax credit has been enthusiastically embraced by most Democrats as an easily promotable example of a social policy that aids families in tangible ways. On the surface, the policy would appear to be one of the few things Democrats across the ideological spectrum might agree on as they undertake the messy…
The 2021 West Virginia legislative session ended last month, and now that the majority of the bills have been signed by the governor or passed into law without his signature, we can take stock of how criminal justice policies fared at the Capitol. The 2020 session saw several bills that were strides toward reform and…
State of Working West Virginia 2021: Labor, Race, and Solidarity is out now! The 14th edition of the WVCBP's State of Working West Virginia series explores the interrelated declines of worker power and economic equality in the Mountain State. The report was written in three parts. Part 1 examines the economic transition that took place in…
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 186,000 workers in West Virginia were employed in six broad industries that are now considered the frontlines of the response. Nurses, janitors, grocery clerks, child care staff, bus and truck drivers, these are the essential workers in our state and our economy, and the current crisis has done little to…