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.…
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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…
The WVCBP is thrilled to share that we've added two new incredible members to our team! Ash Orr (they/them, he/his) is now serving as the Center's policy outreach coordinator. Before joining the WVCBP, Ash worked as a political organizer for RepresentUs and he currently serves as the Chair of the Morgantown Human Rights Commission. As…
The city of Huntington voted earlier this month to eliminate the city's Business and Occupation (B&O) tax for restaurants and retailers, which is expected to result in an annual revenue loss of $2 million. The city is hopeful that the revenue loss will be offset by increased local sales tax revenue. However, this is a…
Charleston Gazette - The centerpiece of the compromise tax plan currently under debate by the West Virginia Legislature is a major cut to the income tax rates paired with an increase in the sales tax. Since West Virginia’s current income tax is progressive, and based on the ability to pay, collapsing the brackets and reducing the…
Governor Releases State Budget Right at the start of the 2014 Legislative Session came news of mid-year budget cuts that will fall heavily on the state Department of Health and Human Resources and on the state's colleges and universities. These additional cutbacks will be in addition to budget reductions already impacting these agencies and their…
Wanna get involved in the EMEE project? Click here! Elevating the Medicaid Enrollment Experience (EMEE) is a project executed by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy seeking to promote policies and practices to help West Virginians access Medicaid. This project aims to better understand individuals' experiences with the application, enrollment, and renewal…
For the better part of the 20th century, land ownership patterns in West Virginia remained virtually unchanged. Large energy and land-holding corporations bought up mineral-rich acres and held them until market conditions were favorable for mining, drilling or leasing. Two separate investigations – one by reporter Tom Miller in 1974 and another by the…
While the newest jobs numbers indicate that some areas of West Virginia’s economy are recovering, the job market is far from pre-pandemic levels and employment gains have not been equally distributed. Further, increasing COVID-19 cases remain a threat to workers’ health and the economy. While the state has seen relatively steady job growth in recent…
For Immediate Release: June 10, 2024 Contact: Sean O'Leary, (304)-400-8899 Charleston, WV – West Virginia improved its children’s health ranking compared with recent years, coming in at 35th among the states according to the 2024 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report of recent data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how kids are faring in post-pandemic America. The…