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February 29, 2016 by
Expanding the Sales Tax to More Services: Sound Policy?

This week, the House of Delegates will consider a bill (HB 2704) that will extend the state's sales and use tax to more services  in conjunction with lowering the sales tax rate.  HB 2704 would remove several services currently exempted in West Virginia's sales tax, including services provided by lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, investment counselors,…

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February 7, 2014 by
Which is More Expensive – Tax Cuts or Free Tuition?

Last week, we took a look at the total cost of the state's tax cuts of the past few years. According to state officials, cuts to the food tax and business taxes will cost the state $360 million in lost revenue this year, with more than half of the loss coming from the cuts to…

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March 1, 2016 by
Severance Tax Cut Would Cost Millions (Updated)

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%…

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March 14, 2014 by
Fate of Health-Related Bills in the 2014 Legislative Session

The 81st West Virginia Legislature wrapped up session last Saturday night with 30 health-related bills (by my count). These bills spanned the spectrum from the hot button issue of abortion that continues to generate media coverage to bills that passed multiple committees and both chambers unanimously with nary a peep of press. Here I will…

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October 19, 2018 by
Free Summit Will Bring People Together for ‘Food For All’

Charleston Gazette-Mail - Food for all. It’s a simple concept most of us among West Virginia’s hills agree with. No one should go hungry. That’s why the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition and other partners are holding a one-day food summit — “Food For All” — to gather those…

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April 29, 2013 by
FY 2014 Budget Update

On April 17, 2013, the West Virginia legislature passed the Fiscal Year 2014 budget. Only minor changes were made to Governor Tomblin’s $11.3 billion proposal, which was introduced at the start of the legislative session, with the final budget only $2.0 million smaller than the governor’s proposal, a reduction of 0.02 percent. The FY 2014…

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March 5, 2021 by
Gov. Justice’s Proposal to Reduce PIT Shifts Taxes to Low- and Middle-Income Families, While Still Necessitating Cuts to Public Services

Yesterday, Governor Jim Justice unveiled his long-awaited proposal to reduce the state personal income tax. As currently structured, it would raise West Virginia’s sales tax to 7.9 percent, making it the highest state sales tax in the country, and effectively making our combined state and local sales tax rate 8.4 percent, higher than that of any of our surrounding…

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January 2, 2012 by
Business Tax Cuts – No Free Lunch

While the state should be doing all that it can to stimulate economic growth and jobs, cutting business taxes is an inefficient, regressive and poor choice for creating broadly shared prosperity. As Sean has pointed out, there are much better ways to accomplish this goal. As AP points out today, the corporate net income tax…

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March 11, 2023 by
West Virginia Health, Social Leaders to Host Free Forum on Medicaid Changes

WOWK - Our Future West Virginia will have a free, public Medicaid forum on the West Side of Charleston, West Virginia, in March. Read the full article. The organization says the COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency Coverage program will soon end, leaving many West Virginians without Medicaid coverage. The forum will help teach the community about important…

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