Late in the evening on the final day of the 2024 regular session, lawmakers passed what they referred to as a “skinny budget” totaling $4.997 billion in general revenue for FY 2025. The enacted budget reflects a spending increase of $122 million over FY 2024’s budget, but it is $226 million less than what the…
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Charleston Gazette-Mail - Earlier this week, Gov. Jim Justice stood on a stage with balloons, banners and giant scissors to celebrate what his team hailed as a historic revenue announcement. The announcement? State revenues hit a complicated trigger formula which will automatically reduce the personal income tax by about $80 million — resulting in an…
New Report Examines the Fiscal and Opportunity Costs of Police Overtime in Charleston, West Virginia
For Immediate Release: August 31, 2023 Contact: Sara Whitaker, 304-610-6391 Charleston, WV – In March 2023, the Charleston City Council approved a $111.6 million budget for the 2024 fiscal year, with one-fifth, or $23.0 million, going to uniformed Charleston Police officers. Of that $23 million, $2.6 million was allocated for ballooning overtime pay. High overtime spending is not…
Now that West Virginia families and businesses are filing their 2023 taxes, the state is beginning to see the full impact of tax changes enacted last year. February's revenue collections were historically weak, coming in 30 percent, or $124 million, below last February's collections. February's revenue numbers are the worst in at least a decade…
West Virginia's child welfare system is in crisis. Currently, the Mountain State places four times as many children per capita in the foster care system as the United States as a whole. West Virginia permanently terminates parental rights faster and more often than any other state in the country. While the child welfare system is…
Earlier this month, the Governor unveiled his proposed FY 2025 budget, which is now in the hands of the Legislature to review, amend, and pass. Proposed and enacted tax cuts continue to crowd out long-needed spending priorities in Governor Justice's budget, which once again relies on one-time surplus revenue that will likely soon dry up…
In March 2023, lawmakers passed legislation, Senate Bill 633, to address a growing reason why people are taken to West Virginia jails: capiases. A capias – or bench warrant – is an arrest order issued by a magistrate or judge. The number of people brought to jail on a capias arrest in West Virginia increased from…
On the first day of the 2022 legislative session, the West Virginia Senate introduced bills that would make major changes to the state's unemployment insurance system, to the detriment of the state's workers. While Senate Bill 3 would add additional strict work search requirements for unemployed workers collecting unemployment insurance, Senate Bill 2 would reduce…
Earlier this month, the West Virginia Senate passed two bills that would drastically change the state's unemployment insurance system and will now be considered in the House of Delegates. SB 2 would reduce the number of weeks a worker can collect unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to as few as 12 weeks. SB 3 would…
For the second year in a row, Governor Jim Justice has proposed a “flat” budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, with only minor changes from the FY 2022 budget. While the state is currently enjoying large budget surpluses, those surpluses are the result of billions in federal aid, artificially low revenue estimates, and continued unpredictability…