The WVCBP is excited to welcome Sarah Duncan to the team as our public education campaign coordinator!
Sarah is a lifelong West Virginian who holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Arts in Education from Marshall University. Sarah has taught for over 10 years in the West Virginia public education system and is passionate about advocating for the rights of students, parents, employees, and working families. She is a member of the Roane County Family Healthcare Board of Directors and lives in Reedy, West Virginia with her husband and two children.
We asked Sarah a few questions to give her the opportunity to share about herself. Check out her answers below.
What aspect of your work at the WVCBP are you most looking forward to?
I am so excited to have the opportunity to dig deeper into work that I have always cared about, with a group of coworkers that I really respect. I have always hated seeing people taken advantage of, and I believe there are many interests out there trying to take advantage of kids and the hard-working people of this state. Public education is important and central to so many of our lives, and I hope to be able to learn, educate others, and enable communities to advocate for the strong, well-funded public schools that we deserve.
What are you most proud of regarding your work prior to joining the WVCBP?
I have really enjoyed teaching and working with students over the years and am still a bit sad to have left the classroom. I am proud of my accomplishments within the school system, but also for the organizing and advocacy work I have done with AFT. I also ran for the WV House of Delegates in 2018 and learned a great deal through that experience. I am a strong supporter of workers’ rights as well as the rights of students and families.
What are three fun facts you would like to share with our supporters?
In West Virginia, one in six residents (277,400 people) rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to help put food on the table. SNAP is the nation’s most important and effective anti-hunger program, playing a key role in reducing poverty and improving health and economic outcomes for households with children, adults with disabilities, seniors, veterans, and low-wage workers. If Congress moves ahead with a proposal to cut more than $200 billion from SNAP, households are at risk of going hungry and West Virginia state lawmakers could be on the hook for new state spending or painful decisions about what benefits to cut.
While the specific details of Congress’ proposal to cut hundreds of billions from the SNAP program are not public yet, some Republican leaders are calling for a cost-sharing requirement, where states would have to come up with a portion of SNAP benefits. This would mark the first time in history the federal government did not fund 100 percent of the cost of food benefits, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
While proponents have not yet said how much they would require states to pay in SNAP food benefit costs under a SNAP cost-sharing proposal, any costs would be significant for West Virginia, just as the state is facing a $400 million budget gap. In FY 2024, West Virginians received $566 million in SNAP benefits. That means a 10 percent match would cost $56 million annually or $566 million over a ten-year period; and a 25 percent cost share (similar to that in traditional Medicaid) would cost $141 million annually or $1.4 billion over a ten-year period.
If states were required to match even 10 percent of SNAP benefit costs ($56 million/annually), it would be equivalent to the cost of doubling the number of Child Protective Services (CPS) workers in the state (current annual spending is $24 million) or six times the amount the state currently spends on child care assistance ($8.8 million).
Shifting SNAP to a cost-sharing program between the federal and state government would mean that West Virginia state policymakers would have to raise new state revenue, cut funding for other state-funded priorities, or reduce and restrict program eligibility.
Because it would be difficult for West Virginia to absorb a 10 percent ($56) or 25 percent ($141 million) match at current benefit levels without raising revenue or cutting other spending, state lawmakers would risk not being able to pull down the full federal match, forfeiting federal dollars and being forced to cut program eligibility. This would dramatically reduce the reach of the program, harming households and retailers and putting an increased strain on charitable food providers.
For example, if West Virginia could only afford $35 million out of the state budget for SNAP benefits but the required match is 10 percent, they would have to cut benefits and eligibility enough to reduce overall spending on the program from $566 million to $385 million—effectively cutting the program by nearly one-third.
To illustrate what a 32 percent cut as exemplified above would mean for West Virginia, policymakers could consider the following options:
SNAP benefits are spent at 2,200 grocery stores and retailers in West Virginia. Every $1 in additional spending on SNAP benefits in a weak economy generates $1.54 in economic activity when households use their benefits to shop at local businesses in their communities.
Forcing states to help pay SNAP benefits would allow Congress to enact unpopular cuts while making someone else—state lawmakers—either pay the difference or decide which participants lose food benefits, making households less food secure and harming our broader food economy.
Read Kelly’s full blog post.
Take Action Today:Use our form to contact West Virginia’s congressional and Senate delegation and tell them to reject any budget proposal that cuts funding for Medicaid, SNAP, and other federal safety net programs.
Senate Joint Resolution 6 would amend the state’s constitution to allow the legislature to reduce or eliminate the ad valorem tax on automobiles and all other personal property, while calling on future legislatures to somehow replace the lost revenue. Like 2022’s Amendment 2, which was rejected by West Virginia voters by nearly a two-to-one margin, SJR 6 would take property taxing authority away from local communities and give the significant power over funding for local public services to the state legislature.
Personal property taxes totaled $1.05 billion in tax year 2024, accounting for over 40 percent of all local property tax revenue. The constitutional amendment proposed by the committee substitute for SJR 6 would give the legislature control over all personal property taxes, including business machinery and equipment, business inventory, the working interest of natural gas personal property, and personal vehicles. This is significantly broader than the language in 2022’s Amendment 2 which did not include natural gas personal property.
Property taxes provide revenue for the essential public structures, services, and programs that enhance the quality of life for all people in the state. In West Virginia, property taxes are primarily a local revenue, providing over $2.5 billion in 2024 for local public services like libraries, police and fire protection, parks and recreation, and senior centers, with over two-thirds of property tax revenue funding local school districts.
The proposed exemptions under SJR 6 would cause local governments to lose constitutional protections for an important revenue stream that they cannot easily make up due to their limited capacity to raise revenue. The $1.05 billion in property tax revenue from personal vehicles and all other personal property accounts for more than 70 percent of total property tax revenue in some counties.
While the proposed amendment calls for the legislature to “provide an equal or greater revenue share to those counties impacted” by the revenue loss, it does not provide a mechanism or permanent funding stream to do so. Nor does the proposed amendment specify how future years’ revenue losses would be calculated. With the state facing hundreds of millions of dollars in future projected budget gaps, it is not fiscally feasible to replace even a fraction of the potential lost revenue.
The amendment proposed by SJR 6 would weaken the ability of local governments to invest in education, roads, public safety, recreation, and more. Local governments would lose significant power and authority over their own sources of revenue and would be forced to rely on promises from state lawmakers to fund their own public services – promises which, as explained above, are not expected to be fiscally feasible to keep.
Like with Amendment 2, arguments for eliminating the personal property tax are not based on evidence and data. There is little evidence that West Virginia’s property tax curtails economic growth. Instead, research shows that the public services that are funded by property taxes are the same factors that attract businesses and people to the state, help the economy grow, and create a shared prosperity.
Read Sean’s full blog post.
As public education faces challenges of declining enrollment and persistent disinvestment of funding and resources, school closures and consolidations continue to threaten access to public education for children in our state. Twenty-five schools were proposed or approved for closure across the state this school year. One county that has been particularly affected is Wood County. Nine schools have closed within the past five years in Wood County with two more slated to close at the end of this school year. The experiences of the Wood County school district serve as a cautionary tale of the difficult decisions that districts must face when funding declines. The least resourced schools are often the ones on the chopping block, despite the reality that the families they serve are the least likely to benefit from voucher programs.
Wood County is home to 16 public elementary schools, five public middle schools, and three public high schools, serving over 11,000 students throughout the district with about 1,700 staff. At the end of this school year, the available public schools in the county will decrease by two. Fairplains Elementary School will close and merge with Martin Elementary School, and Van Devender Middle School will close and merge with Jackson Middle School and Hamilton Middle School. Funding challenges were cited by the superintendent as the primary driver for the closures.
The overall enrollment decline for the district over the past five years was only about seven percent, which indicates that the losses of students from Fairplains Elementary and Van Devender Middle were particularly severe; these schools observed declines of 25 percent and 33 percent, respectively. These two schools also have a greater share of students that are economically disadvantaged, experiencing homelessness, and receiving special education services compared to other schools in the district.
Districts and schools that serve vulnerable student groups like these are often underfunded and under-resourced despite research that clearly shows that these students require more resources to achieve similar educational outcomes to their peers. Under the current funding formula for public education in West Virginia, student enrollment is the primary driver of funding and resource allocation. As schools lose students, they are forced to operate with reduced funding and fewer resources, particularly for staffing, transportation, and overall operation costs.
The Hope Scholarship was a major contributor to the loss of students in Wood County public schools. This county had the third highest number of scholarship recipients in the state last school year, totaling to 357 students that utilized voucher funds that year. From the first to the second year of the program, participation in the Hope Scholarship in Wood County more than tripled from 115 students. The Hope Scholarship accounted for more than half of the enrollment decline in the district from the 2022-2023 to the 2023-2024 school year. This decline amounted to the loss of about $1.4 million in state funding for essential costs like staffing, operations, and transportation for Wood County public schools in the 2024-2025 school year.
Wood County has one of the highest concentrations of private schools within the state, with 11 private schools. Of the schools that list their tuition costs publicly, the average cost of private schooling in Wood County is about $6,300 per student, annually. The Hope Scholarship provided up to $4,489 per student for the 2023-2024 school year, which meant about $1,800 annually must paid by the family in Wood County. Notably, this does not include other costs like meals, transportation, uniforms, books, and additional fees. Private schools often add fees or upcharges for these basic services that are provided at no cost in public schools. Combined, these costs beyond the value of the Hope Scholarship show that “school choice” likely remains out of reach for the economically disadvantaged students who make up the population of Fairplains Elementary and Van Devender Middle. Based on the high concentration of private schools in Wood County, as well as the cost of these schools, private education is primarily an accessible option in this county for families that already have the means to afford it. If the Hope Scholarship continues on its current path, public education in Wood County will continue to deteriorate at the expense of families with limited means to educate their children in other settings.
All children in the Mountain State deserve access to quality public education. To date, the Hope Scholarship has diverted an estimated $85 million from the public school system to private schools and other non-public education providers. If expanded, the cost of the program is expected to balloon to up to $300 million each year. That diverted funding is no longer available for policymakers to increase funding for community schools, make the school aid funding formula more equitable for high-poverty districts, or increase staffing to help schools address student learning and behavioral issues. The Hope Scholarship is a threat to public education in West Virginia and it’s time for our policymakers to take action before it’s too late.
Recommendations
Read Tamaya’s full blog post.
The U.S. Congress is advancing a budget resolution that sets up massive cuts in federal funding for health care and SNAP (food assistance) — all to offset deep tax cuts for the country’s wealthiest households and businesses.
Our Senators & Representatives need to hear from us that cutting Medicaid & SNAP isn’t an option. Call on them to hold in-person town hall meetings during their recess!
West Virginia’s U.S. House members, Representatives Carol Miller and Riley Moore both voted to move forward the budget resolution, though they both reportedly told advocates that Medicaid wouldn’t be touched. But it will be nearly impossible for Congress to enact cuts of the size instructed without significant cuts to health care.
The budget resolution shows a stark picture of the current priorities of the U.S. House: the cost of extending tax cuts for households with incomes in the top 1 percent — $1.1 trillion through 2034 — equals roughly the same amount as the proposed potential cuts for health coverage under Medicaid and food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). It would shift massive costs to our state and to local charitable providers, which are already stretched thin.
The good news is that all members of our federal delegation will have another chance to vote on the budget before any cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, or education funding are finalized. But we need to make sure they hear from residents who rely on these programs.
We need to call on them to hold an in-person town hall the week of March 17th with both the Senate and House in recess. Call on them to meet with West Virginians who’d be impacted by cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other vital programs.
Three Steps You Can Take Right Now to Protect Health Care and Food Assistance
1. Call your U.S. House representative’s office and ask them to hold a town hall during March recess. Not sure who your U.S. House member is? Find out here.
Contact Information: Rep. Riley Moore, (202) 225-2711 (DC office) or (304) 350-6987 (District office); Rep. Carol Miller, (202) 225-3452 (DC office) or (681) 945-6556 (District office)
Sample Script
My name is ______________ and I live in _________________. I was very concerned by Representative Miller/Moore’s vote on the House budget resolution and I am calling on him/her to meet with West Virginians who would be impacted by cuts to Medicaid and SNAP by holding an in-person public town hall during the March recess.
2. Call both of your U.S. Senators and ask them to reject any cuts to Medicaid and SNAP food assistance. U.S. Senators represent the full state, so you are represented by both and can/should contact both!
Contact information: Senator Shelley Moore Capito, (202) 224-6472 (DC office); Senator Jim Justice, 202-224-3954 (DC office)
Sample Script
My name is __________________ and I live in ___________________. The House budget would be very harmful for West Virginians and our economy, and violates President Trump’s commitment to lowering costs for residents by increasing health care and food costs for many families. I am asking Senator _______ to reject ANY cuts to Medicaid or SNAP.
3. Post on social media, tagging YOUR U.S. House member and U.S. Senators with the hashtag #WVRecessTownHall, calling on them to hold a town hall with constituents during the March recess.
Learn more about how cuts to Medicaid would harm West Virginia in this recent article, featuring insight from WVCBP executive director, Kelly Allen.
Two hundred workers were laid off from the Bureau of Fiscal Service in Parkersburg. Thousands from the Department of Veterans Affairs (including at least 10 in West Virginia). And hundreds each from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Caring for our veterans, responding to natural disasters, and keeping our skies safe — these are all among the roles of government that most folks across the political spectrum agree upon, and even so, they have all been impacted.
And these layoffs aren’t coming after professional and thorough reviews of departments identifying redundancies or unnecessary functions. The Department of Government Efficient (DOGE) is using a hatchet rather than a scalpel, largely firing probationary employees — not because they were found to be unnecessary but because they are easy to fire with few civil service protections.
And promoted employees are also subject to probationary periods, meaning many workers who are moving up the ladder due to their professional success are also being fired. This is in line with DOGE’s broader lack of thorough analysis, cutting off critical grant programs without a full understanding of what they do and dramatically overstating the supposed savings, often later having to unfreeze important dollars and walk back those “savings” claims.
But where is this all coming from? It cannot be about saving money. Laying off a quarter of the entire federal workforce would only reduce spending by 1%. Perhaps Russ Vought, the head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a lead author of Project 2025 summed up the real reason: “When [federal employees] wake up, we want them not to want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains… We want to put them in trauma.”
So who exactly is the federal workforce he is referring to? There are just over 2 million federal employees, 637,000 (30%) of which are veterans; notably, the federal government is the nation’s leader for veteran employment. These are many of the workers being intentionally “traumatized” by attacks on the federal workforce. Earlier this week, the chief information officer of a Department of Justice Office, a 100% disabled veteran, resigned citing the “relentless stream of unwarranted criticism and negative remarks we all have been enduring for the last several weeks.”
Twenty percent of the 2 million-person federal workforce is employed by Veterans’ Affairs (VA), an agency whose mission is “to care for those who have borne the battle.” Combined with the Navy, Army, Air Force, Defense, and Homeland Security, two-thirds of federal employees are in defense and security agencies.
According to public reports, at least 2,400 VA employees have been fired already. My brother is a psychologist for the VA, working with veterans daily to provide the mental health support they need to successfully transition from military to civilian life and, sometimes, just to stay alive. In 2020, 5.2 million veterans experienced a behavioral health condition, so the need for highly qualified, compassionate VA staff is significant. While he and many of his co-workers have not yet been impacted by layoffs, many are now looking for the door after relentless attacks, which could dramatically undermine the workforce needed to serve our veterans.
In West Virginia specifically, the impacts of federal worker layoffs could be significant. While West Virginia has just about 20,000 federal workers living in the state, the federal government constitutes more than 2% of the state’s total workforce, a higher share than 45 other states. As a result, cuts to the federal workforce could have an outsized impact on the economy in West Virginia.
Federal workers have become an easy target for the folks who think the government should “run like a business.” But a quick look at the federal workforce shows that the roles federal officials fulfill are ones “free market” business can’t or won’t, but that are morally or societally vital: educating our children; providing health care for the young and old, veterans, and the disabled; ensuring food and product safety. These services by nature won’t be efficient in the business sense.
Government workers provide vital services to society and our population, largely in the background and without acknowledgement. Often when they are successful, nothing happens — at least nothing that the majority of us can see. To borrow from a recent article from West Virginian Michael Tomasky: “No one takes a drink of water and thinks, ‘Hey, I didn’t get sick or die from that water, thank you, Environmental Protection Agency.’ No one gets on a flight that lands safely and thanks the Federal Aviation Administration. No one buys a toy for their infant or toddler that does not contain any parts the child could accidentally choke on and thanks the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”
But make no mistake, as we see federal workers laid off arbitrarily and others leave due to relentless criticism, we will witness the significant impacts across our daily lives and in our economy. And those we all agree are deserving of care — veterans, the elderly, victims of natural disasters, and children — will likely be among the most impacted.
Read Kelly’s full op-ed.
We were so honored to be present for the fourth annual Black Policy Day at the State Capitol! Founded by Black Voter Impact Initiative and Black by God, Black Policy Day brings together hundreds of Black West Virginians from all over the state to advance civic engagement, raise collective understanding of the decisions made by state lawmakers, and advocate for policies from the community-sourced Black Policy Agenda. You can view photos from this year’s event here.
Join the event organizers for the final webinar in their Black Policy Day series, where they’ll break down the day’s events, discuss key takeaways, and outline next steps for continued advocacy. Registerhere.
You can view the recording of Young, Gifted, and Black, a webinar highlighting emerging Black policymakers and advocates who are shaping the future of the Mountain State, here.
Congress is moving fast on budget plans that could put critical safety net programs—Medicaid, SNAP, and other essential services—at risk. Right now, lawmakers in both the U.S. House and Senate are considering budget proposals that could lead to devastating cuts to the programs that thousands of West Virginians rely on for food, health care, and economic security.
These cuts would disproportionately impact families, seniors, and children in our state, threatening access to health care, food assistance, and other essential services—all to finance tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. We can’t let this happen.
Take Action Today:Use our form to contact West Virginia’s congressional and Senate delegation and tell them to reject any budget proposal that cuts funding for Medicaid, SNAP, and other federal safety net programs. Our elected officials must prioritize the well-being of West Virginians, not corporate interests and tax breaks for billionaires.
