West Virginians who work should be able to support their families and afford their basic needs. Unfortunately, too many jobs in West Virginia pay too little for workers and their families to make ends meet. 23% of workers in West Virginia are employed in low-wage jobs and over a quarter of those live in poverty.…
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With the last Budget Beat of 2014, we wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015. We leave you with two of the major policy priorities we are ready to tackle in 2015: First up, paid sick days for West Virginia workers. Over 250,000…
The climate change talks in Paris were big news this week, as well as a jury verdict in the Don Blankenship trial. They both have coal in common and the huge role it plays in our local communities and the global stage. When the nation and the world think of West Virginia, coal is as much…
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…
Infants and birthing parents are dying at alarming rates in West Virginia. Infant and maternal mortality rates are essential statistics measuring overall societal health. In particular, the disparities in life outcomes between Black and white babies and mothers raise questions about health equity and the ability of our health care system to respond to both…
Governor Jim Justice has not introduced any tax measures yet, but in his State of the State Address and his executive budget there are plans to enact several tax increases to close the Fiscal Year 2018 budget gap of $500 million and address the state's declining road fund that pays for highway construction, maintenance, and road…
Last month, President Biden announced the American Families Plan (AFP) proposal, featuring major investments in K-12 education, child care, higher education, health care, and paid leave, as well as extended tax cuts for families and workers with children. The AFP also includes revenue-raising proposals that would affect only very high-income taxpayers. And while the benefits…
This blog post was written by the WVCBP's summer research associate, Tamicah Owens. The closing of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, while necessary, created a myriad of issues for learners and parents. Teachers and schools in some areas were able to quickly transition to virtual schooling for students. However, some student populations suffered higher levels of academic losses…
At his State of the State address last week, Governor Justice announced a proposal he called a "tsunami" to reduce the personal income tax by 50 percent. As we’ve previously highlighted, personal income tax cuts by nature overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest households. In this case, one out of every six dollars in tax cuts would…
Over the weekend, the U.S. Senate passed the American Rescue Plan (ARP), a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. Now the bill must go back to the U.S. House before President Joe Biden signs it into law. The package includes many features that were part of the CARES Act, including direct cash payments to taxpayers and…