Charleston Daily Mail - Democrats and Republicans agree the process for estimating the cost of proposed legislation is often biased and unreliable, according to a survey by a West Virginia think tank. Read The West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, a liberal-leaning nonprofit, issued a report Tuesday calling for changes in the creation of…
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The State Journal - In order to decide whether or not to vote for a piece of legislation, West Virginia's legislators often rely on fiscal notes. Read Calculated by various state agencies, fiscal notes are intended to give legislators information on the financial impact of a particular bill, how much a new law will cost…
The Republic - The Legislature should change the way fiscal notes are prepared for legislation because these cost estimates are often inaccurate, biased and lacking in details, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy said in a report. Read These flaws stem from West Virginia's lack of a formal process that includes defined criteria…
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An article in yesterday's Wheeling Intelligencer claims that a Northern Panhandle pediatrician is being forced to retire because of the costs of Obamacare. It makes for a great headline for opponents of the Affordable Care Act, but is it true?  In short, no, at least not for the reason cited. Dr. Ventosa's primary claim is that…
West Virginia Public Broadcasting - A new report says the Legislature should change the way fiscal notes are prepared for legislation. Read The report from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy says fiscal notes are generally inaccurate, often biased, inconsistent and lacking in details.
Today's news that Shell Oil Company has chosen a site in Pennsylvania as the location for their new cracker facility comes after months of competition between PA, WV, and OH over which state would land the cracker, with each state offering a variety of incentives. (A "cracker facility" converts ethane from natural gas liquids into more profitable chemicals…
On October 1, the West Virginia Tax Department issued guidelines and outlined intentions to start collecting sales taxes from remote internet retailers on January 1, 2019. As Charleston Gazette-Mail reporter Phil Kabler recently noted, this was a sharp policy shift. Nearly four months ago, Governor Justice proclaimed he had no intentions to allow the state to collect online sales taxes and that,…
Gazette-Mail - The Senate has passed a bill that would, among other things, require an asset test for food-stamp recipients. Read.
Charleston Gazette-Mail - A bill that would have imposed an asset test on food stamp recipients in West Virginia is effectively dead for the legislative session, a lobbyist who's been working against the legislation said. Read.