Shout-Out to Evidence Counts, the WVCBP Blog As a Budget Beat reader, you are familiar with the WVCBP blog, Evidence Counts. We are proud to be one of the top blogs followed by West Virginia Focus as mentioned in its Sept/Oct issue! Our work on broadband access is also cited on page 24. Read the…
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Last week, the U.S. House passed a "farm bill" that for the first time in decades did not include food assistance or SNAP (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) for vulnerable children and families. This move came on the heels of an earlier version passed by the U.S. House in June that reduced SNAP…
For Immediate Release Media Contacts: Caitlin Cook (304) 543-4879 (Charleston, WV) - The lowest-income West Virginians pay 21 percent more in taxes as a percent of their income compared to the state's wealthiest residents, according to a new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. The study, Who…
Several years ago, West Virginia enacted a series of large business tax cuts with the belief that they would help grow the state’s economy. Today policymakers are promoting that same theory, even though the previous tax cuts have largely failed to put West Virginia on a path to prosperity, with the state losing thousands of…
Last week, Senator Jay Rockefeller gave an historic and courageous speech on the future of coal and the EPA (MACT) rule to limit contaminants and mercury emissions from coal fired power plants. Ken Ward analyzes the speech at Coal Tattoo so we don't have to. As the Center for American Progress (CAP) points out, this…
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…
Some lawmakers are claiming West Virginia’s prevailing wage overpays construction workers and inflates the costs of public construction projects, but the evidence does not support these claims. Ending the state’s prevailing wage is likely to have no impact on public construction costs but could hurt the living standards of construction workers and the competitiveness of…
For Immediate Release Contact Ted Boettner, 304-720-8682 The recent boom and bust of Marcellus Shale development due to "fracking" has reopened serious questions about resource management. While the boom generated revenue, jobs, and economic development, the recent bust has adversely impacted state budgets due to declining industry investments in exploration and production and job cuts.…
The vast majority of school-age children in West Virginia attend and receive their education through the public school system, and West Virginia’s state constitution requires "a thorough and efficient system of free schools." But a growing Hope Scholarship voucher program is diverting public resources away from the public education system and the nearly 250,000 children…
People-Powered Policy July 26-28, 2024 at Marshall University Summer Policy Institute 2024 is almost here! SPI is a convening focused on policy, where participants will 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. Policy sessions will equip…