Search Results

June 4, 2021 by
American Jobs and Families Plans Provide Critical Aid to West Virginians, Include Revenue Proposals that Make Tax Code Fairer

WVCBP executive director Kelly Allen recently published an op-ed expressing support for the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, both of which would provide much-needed support to hundreds of thousands of West Virginians simply by asking the wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. Excerpt below: A higher tax rate on about 1%…

Read More
September 4, 2020 by
SNAP Recertification Processes May Be Worsening Food Insecurity in West Virginia

More than five months after the declaration of a national emergency due to COVID-19, legitimate concern is growing that the burden placed on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to comply with the excessive paperwork needed to maintain their food assistance benefits could be heightening food insecurity in West Virginia. Last spring, West Virginia applied…

Read More
March 9, 2012 by
Higher Education Investment Needs Our Attention

In his Friday column,  Paul Krugman points out that state expenditures for higher ed has fallen by 12 percent over the last five years after adjusting for inflation. Krugman highlights that one result of this disinvestment has been a 70 percent growth in inflation-adjusted tuition at public four-year colleges over the last decade. This got…

Read More
February 19, 2013 by
Child Poverty in West Virginia: A Growing and Persistent Problem

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) report, this new report revisits many of the same measures of well-being that ARC researchers examined a half-century ago. This analysis, however, focuses its attention on West Virginia, the one state that exists entirely within the federally designated Appalachian region, and, more…

Read More
June 14, 2017 by
Additional Revenues Still Needed to Avoid Cuts to Critical Needs

As MetroNews reported, the state Senate passed a state budget of $4.225 billion in General Revenue Fund spending for FY 2018. The budget contains deep cuts in Medicaid and higher education above and beyond what the governor proposed during the regular and special legislative session. The budget also relies on updated revenue estimates of $169.9…

Read More
August 31, 2011 by
Missing the Boat: Business Taxes and Economic Growth

In Thursday's edition of the Charleston Gazette, gubernatorial candidate Bill Maloney echoed a familiar refrain, arguing that the state needs to reduce its business taxes to achieve economic growth, citing "supply-side economics." It's an issue I've discussed before, and the latest evidence continues to confirm that low business taxes are not associated with stronger economic growth, nor do they make…

Read More
February 28, 2011 by
House Spending Cuts Will Hurt Economic Growth

Earlier this week, I voiced concern that the proposed spending cuts coming from the U.S. House of Representatives would threaten West Virginia's ability to meet important needs like education, environmental protection, and community development, while threatening the fragile economic recovery. Now a report prepared for Goldman Sachs confirms that the proposed spending cuts would hurt the economy,…

Read More
September 19, 2013 by
Poverty Unchanged for Fifth Year, Middle-Class Income Stagnant

Contact: Sean O'Leary, 304-720-8682, soleary@wvpolicy.org, Stephen Smith, 304-610-6512, ssmith@wvhealthykids.org More than 320,000 West Virginians lived in poverty in 2012, including nearly 90,000 children, according to today's release of the 2012 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau. The income and poverty data released show the continued struggle for thousands of families in West Virginia. Read…

Read More