Search Results

March 14, 2019 by
FY 2020 Budget Recap

The 2019 Legislative Session ended last week, with the state budget passed a day early. While every year, the budget undergoes some changes from the governor’s proposal to the final product, this year saw relatively few changes. The FY 2020 budget proposed by Governor Justice includes new spending initiatives and pay raises while avoiding spending cuts…

Read More
June 24, 2014 by
Ted Boettner: Government Aided Shale Gas Growth

Charleston Daily Mail - A recent column by Hoppy Kercheval wrongly states that the revolution in shale development was the product of the “free market.” Nothing could be further from the truth. ReadFederal investments and involvement in the development of shale extraction technologies span three decades.In fact, the first successful multi-fracture horizontal drilling play was…

Read More
July 17, 2013 by
SNAP Cuts Could Hurt West Virginia Families

Last week, the U.S. House passed a "farm bill" that for the first time in decades did not include food assistance or SNAP (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) for vulnerable children and families. This move came on the heels of an earlier version passed by the U.S. House in June that reduced SNAP…

Read More
August 7, 2013 by
The Profits of Non-Profit Hospitals

Hospitals serve a vital role in any community, providing life-saving care to the injured and ill while contributing significant dollars and hours to community service.  For example, an article in yesterday's Charleston Daily Mail proclaims that the Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) "reports $115 million in area benefit" in 2012.  These benefits included training classes…

Read More
October 22, 2016 by
Closing a $300 to $400 Million Budget Shortfall

Legislators solved last year's budget crisis primarily with one-time fixes like money from the Rainy Day Fund. While they did raise the tobacco tax, that was not enough to permanently fix the problem. With revenues continuing to come in below projections, it's likely to be a déjà vu budget situation during the 2017 Legislative Session.…

Read More
February 21, 2019 by
A Modest Investment with Big Returns: A State EITC for Low-Income Working Families in West Virginia

Making ends meet is a struggle for many West Virginians employed in lower-wage jobs. In fact, 23% of workers in West Virginia are employed in low-wage jobs and a quarter of those live in poverty. People working in their communities as daycare workers, restaurant servers, home health aides, administrative assistants, and many other lower-income jobs deserve to be able to…

Read More
February 22, 2019 by
House Moves to Cut Thousands Off Medicaid

95,000 low-income West Virginians are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage. Contact your delegates in the West Virginia House and ask them to oppose HB 3136, a bill that originated in the House Finance Committee this week, quickly making it to the House floor for first reading today. This risky and untested proposal to take…

Read More