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February 17, 2022 by
Summer Policy Institute 2022

SPI 2022 THEME: Growing a West Virginia that Works for Everyone July 28–30, 2022 The 2020 Census results revealed that West Virginia experienced more population loss than any other state in the nation between 2010 and 2020. During this year’s SPI, we will create space for our participants to explore what it might take to…

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September 19, 2024 by
Income Tax Cuts Driving Historic Revenue Decline

Governor Justice recently announced a special session to be held at the end of September to override tax cut triggers enacted as part of the 2023 tax law and slash taxes by an additional $114 million. As we highlighted recently, the proposal ignores realities and defies fiscal responsibility. While policymakers are still learning the full impact…

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January 17, 2016 by
Ted Boettner: Free Market Folly in West Virginia

Charleston Gazette-Mail - All too often, public policy debates get couched between those who favor government intervention in the market and those who do not. When it comes to economic issues, the framing is usually that conservatives favor less government or the “free market” while progressives want government solutions and non-market outcomes. This framing is…

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February 2, 2018 by
What’s More Expensive, Business Tax Cuts or Free Tuition?

West Virginia's free community college bill continues to move through the legislature. While the bill in its current form is fairly limited in who it applies to, it is worth revisiting the question of what it would take to provide free tuition to all of West Virginia's in-state college students, and how that cost compares…

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March 24, 2016 by
Revenue Options Crucial to Sustaining Public Investments That Promote Shared Prosperity

When lawmakers reconvene this spring to address the state’s looming budget crisis, it is clear that West Virginia should take a balanced approach that includes additional revenue, rather than a cuts-only approach that threatens our state’s struggling economy. Our state’s worsening revenue situation isn’t due entirely to plunging energy prices. Rather, that situation exacerbates the…

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February 20, 2015 by
Ted Boettner: Nothing ‘Free Market’ About Right to Work

Huntington Herald-Dispatch - The new Republican Legislature is looking to end free bargaining in West Virginia by adopting a so-called "right-to-work" (RTW) law that aims to cut wages and benefits for the state's working families. ReadThis is the last thing West Virginia needs. The state already has the highest share of low-wage jobs in the…

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October 10, 2011 by
New Study Shows No “Free Market” in Energy Development

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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August 15, 2013 by
Where You Live Might Determine Your Health

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…

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February 19, 2015 by
Ted Boettner: Nothing ‘Free Market’ about Right to Work

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…

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