Search Results

State Journal - A recent study by an Illinois-based public policy institute suggests prevailing wage laws help improve income disparities between white and minority construction workers. Read. 

Charleston Daily Mail --"West Virginia was found to have weak enforcement standards in four of the five programs examined, and is ranked 29th among the states," according to the study by Good Jobs First and the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy. Read

WVVA - A recent study lists two local hospitals as being in danger of closure if a hotly debated federal spending bill passes. Read the full article. In May, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a reconciliation package also known as the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Researchers say if passed, this bill would cut funding for…

WCHS-TV - A new study shows more students are living in poverty now compared to students almost a decade ago. Read/WatchThe nonprofit EdBuild analyzed U.S. Census estimates to determine an increase of student poverty from 2006 to 2013.Over those years, the percentage jumped from 31 percent of students living in poverty to 49 percent in…

Beckley Register-Herald - In October elected officials sitting on the Select Joint Committee on Tax Reform committee heard from the conservative The Tax Foundation that eliminating the business personal property tax would create jobs and grow the economy. Read However, a recent study by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy found the business…

The State Journal -- These conclusions agree with the understanding of Ted Boettner, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, which has published on this issue in its October 2011 "Marshall University Natural Gas Tax Study Proves Virtually Nothing" and, in December 2011, "Investing in the Future: Making the Severance Tax…

WVVA - A recent study has ranked West Virginia near the top in workplace fatalities per capita. Read the full article. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, a national trade union, issued its 34th annual report on the state of safety and health protections for America’s workers. West Virginia is ranked second in…

The West Virginia Coal Association released a report this week on the supposed economic impact of its proposed severance tax cut for coal. The Coal Association is pushing a cut in the state severance tax on coal from its current rate of 5% to 2%. I've talked before about how that is a pretty terrible…

Charleston Gazette - Most people in West Virginia will pay less in health insurance premiums through the state's health insurance exchange than they would have in the regular insurance market before the federal Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress, according to a state-commissioned actuarial study. Read The rates are dependent on getting younger, healthy…

Charleston Daily Mail - A group of retirement savings advocates is asking the Legislature to spend the next year studying a way for the state to expand options for people to save for retirement, even if their employer does not currently offer a plan. ReadThe newly formed West Virginia Coalition for Retirement Options made a…