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January 31, 2019 by
Public Money for Private Schools: Education Savings Accounts Can Grow Costly While Doing Little to Improve Education

West Virginia legislators are considering enacting voucher-like programs to transfer tax-payer money to private schools. This week they introduced a proposal to create Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) as part of the omnibus education reform bill, SB 451, which would set public money aside for educational services, including private school tuition, textbooks and curriculum materials, private…

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September 23, 2015 by
A Win-Win Marcellus Shale Tax Incentive

The development of the Marcellus Shale has led to a boom in West Virginia’s natural gas production. But aside from the increase in drilling activity and state and local tax revenue, the natural gas boom has not brought with it the jobs and economic growth that many predicted. While the state’s natural gas production has…

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January 17, 2022 by
Unemployment Reform Bills Are Another Attack on Workers

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…

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March 3, 2023 by
Call to Action: Contact Your Legislators and Tell Them to Reject HB 2526

Last weekend, the Senate Finance Committee unveiled and passed their second attempt at a tax cut without discussion or questions and then suspended rules to pass it out of the chamber. The legislation, HB 2526, looks very much like the plan they passed earlier this session (SB 424). Both versions overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, contain a workaround for the tax cuts rejected…

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August 16, 2023 by
Special Session Pay Raises Excluded Some of DCR’s Most Crucial Staff

This blog post was authored by Teri Castle, our 2023 Criminal Legal Reform Summer Research Fellow. One year after Governor Justice declared a state of emergency in West Virginia’s Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR), state government took action to address the agency’s high staff vacancies. This week, lawmakers passed a series of bills (SB…

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December 14, 2012 by
Budget Beat – December 14, 2012

Time to Embrace 21st Century on Internet Sales Tax Each year West Virginia loses millions because it does not tax Internet sales. Like most states, West Virginia taxes the in-store sales of physical books, movies, software, and games, but when these products are delivered digitally over the Internet, sales tax does not apply. A new…

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July 15, 2013 by
Governor Tomblin Has ACA Questions

This afternoon, the Governor's Office sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) chief, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, regarding the Affordable Care Act in West Virginia.  In the letter dated July 15, Governor Tomblin requests "prompt answers to several questions concerning implementation of the ." (See the letter here) The majority of…

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