This past Friday we talked about the illusions that some people have about the role of government in the "free market." Another wrinkle in the free market mythology is how the federal government supports what Alexander Hamilton called "infant industries" with direct investments, subsidies and tariffs. This is especially true when it comes to the…
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Charleston Daily Mail - The Legislature is looking to end free bargaining in West Virginia by adopting a so-called “right-to-work” law.The result would be cutting wages and benefits for the state’s working families. West Virginia already has the highest share of low-wage jobs in the country.The principle aim of right-to-work laws is to diminish the…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - West Virginians help one another. Without thinking twice, we take meals to parents who’ve had a new baby, form ad hoc neighborhood child care arrangements when schools close because of the coronavirus pandemic and pick up groceries for our at-risk elderly neighbors. Link to op-ed here. Our people know that working together…
Want to be healthier and live longer? Then you might want to move to Aspen, Colorado, home of the healthiest county in the U.S. You'll also want to avoid our own McDowell County, one of the least healthy counties in the country. Every year, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at…
For Immediate Release: September 10, 2020 Contact: Kelly Allen, 304-612-4180 Charleston, WV - Today a Republican-proposed COVID relief package failed to pass the U.S. Senate. While West Virginia's communities desperately need additional relief, the provisions included in this legislation were far too meager to meet the immediate and ongoing needs of West Virginia families, many of whom…
Charleston Gazette - West Virginia’s Legislature is moving forward with a costly and ineffective bill targeted at only the poorest West Virginians. ReadThe bill, SB 348, would create a three-county pilot program to begin drug-testing recipients of cash assistance. The costs of the drug screening would be deducted from the TANF recipients’ monthly check and…
West Virginia's legislature is moving forward with a costly and ineffective bill targeted at only the poorest West Virginians. The bill, SB 348, would create a three-county pilot program to begin drug testing recipients of cash assistance (a.k.a. WV Works/ TANF). The costs of the drug screening would be deducted from the TANF recipients' monthly check…
WVCBP executive director Kelly Allen recently met with the Dominion Post Editorial Board to explain how the Justice administration has set the state up for budgetary crisis in the coming years. You can read an excerpt from the Dominion Post's editorial below: Unlike many other states, the governor of West Virginia has the constitutional power to set…
After hearing from the coal industry about their desire for cut in the severance tax, SB 705 was quickly introduced and sped through the Senate Finance Committee on Monday, and is already on 2nd reading in the Senate today. In its current form, the bill cuts the severance tax on coal from 5% to 4%…
This week we got our first look at the House and Senate versions of the FY 2025 budget. Both the Senate and the House proposed budgets came in far below the governor’s proposed budget, even as the governor’s budget proposal is $450 million below pre-pandemic FY 2019 expenditures after adjusting for inflation. And while legislative…