Kanawha County Commission Passes Resolution to Create Jobs in Coalfields After several meetings to take up the issue, last night the Kanawha County Commission unanimously passed a resolution calling for federal action to invest in coalfield communities, which is very similar to the POWER+ Plan included in President Obama's FY 2016 budget. Commissioners in Wyoming,…
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Supporting a Movement This week WVCBP staff met up with sister organizations from across the country at the annual State Fiscal Impact Conference in Baltimore. The opening event of the conference was "Support a Movement: Black Lives Matter and State Fiscal Policy." The session focused on the role of public policy in creating and sustaining…
Would you consider it a "crisis" if an accountant told you how much money you owe on your house? Apparently, that's the rationale Phil Kabler used yesterday when he told people that our state's $8 billion OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits = the state's retiree health care subsidy for state and public school employees) liability is "the…
When lawmakers make sentences longer, West Virginians pay twice – first, at the local level through higher jail bills paid by the county, then again at the state level through increased prison costs. If a person is convicted and sentenced to prison, each additional year in prison costs the state $35,452 per person. But higher…
95,000 low-income West Virginians are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage. Contact your delegates in the West Virginia House and ask them to oppose HB 3136, a bill that originated in the House Finance Committee this week, quickly making it to the House floor for first reading today. This risky and untested proposal to take…
According to a study by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, the COVID-19 mortality rate nationwide is twice as high in prisons compared to the general population. Social distancing is difficult if not impossible in correctional facilities due to their congregate nature. This, combined with the reality that incarcerated people are more likely…
Last week, Governor Justice held a round table promoting fiscally irresponsible tax reform policy. Notable speakers included Stephen Moore and Grover Norquist, staunch supporters of Kansas' failed tax experiment of 2012. WVCBP executive director, Kelly Allen, recently published an op-ed outlining why it defies both evidence and common sense to follow supply-side pundits down a path of…
New Research Finds Opioid Overdose Deaths Decline with More Generous Unemployment Insurance Benefits
As West Virginia lawmakers continue to consider Senate Bills 2 and 3, we urge them to keep in mind the conclusions of a recent study, which found that the harmful effects of job loss on opioid overdose mortality decline with increasing state unemployment benefit levels. The study, titled “Unemployment Insurance and Opioid Overdose Mortality in the United States,” looked at county…
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law in March 2021, is a tremendous and unprecedented opportunity to invest in programs and projects that will increase public health and public safety as communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The $1.9 trillion package’s flexibility allows for state and local governments to fund a wide range…
Earlier this week, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy examined the fiscal impact of the proposed compromise tax plan between Governor Justice and Senate leadership that will influence how the budget is finalized. It appears House leadership is saying "nope" to this plan and it is unclear how the plan would close the state's…