Back to school season always brings excitement and hope. This month as West Virginia’s students head back to school, many families and school staff will also have to navigate the effects of shrinking state K-12 funds, which are falling well below past levels this year. Inadequate state K-12 education funding is having clear impacts including…
Blog
The children of West Virginia are guaranteed a thorough and efficient system of free schools by our state constitution. However, due to the growing Hope Scholarship, declining state revenues, and disruptions to federal funding and support, this guarantee is at risk for the nearly 90 percent of school-aged children in the Mountain State that are…
After years of flat budgets that fail to account for the cost of inflation on public services, West Virginia’s state spending on Medicaid, child care assistance, public education, and higher education have all declined. Meanwhile, other areas of the budget, namely spending on jails, prisons, and foster care, have increased dramatically. This is an expected…
The Trump administration’s Fiscal Year 2026 proposed budget calls for $4.5 billion in cuts to K-12 programs and $12 billion in total cuts to public education, including higher education programs. This is yet another effort to undermine public education following over $6 billion in withheld and delayed funding to public schools this summer, efforts to…
This publication is part two of a two-part series outlining federal changes to the ACA Marketplace. Click here to read part one. Much of the attention around federal health care cuts has focused on the budget reconciliation law that all four members of West Virginia’s Congressional delegation supported, which we covered in part one of this blog series. In…
This publication is part one of a two-part series outlining federal changes to the ACA Marketplace. Click here to read part two. In July, Congress passed a sweeping budget reconciliation bill that cements the largest cuts to health care and food security in US history. Supported by all four members of West Virginia’s Congressional delegation, these cuts…
In March 2022, a group of state employees beat Quantez Burks to death inside Southern Regional Jail. Three years later, eight former correctional officers have been sentenced to a combined 105 years behind bars for their roles in his death. They will serve these 105 years in a federal prison system that–like the state system…
In FY 2025, West Virginia saw declines in state tax collections for the second year in a row. Coupled with declining gross domestic product (GDP) and anemic job growth, the numbers paint a stark picture for the state's economy, particularly amid a slowing national economy and significant federal policy changes set to shift hundreds of…
The enactment of H.R. 1, the Budget Reconciliation Bill, supported by all four members of West Virginia’s Congressional Delegation, cements the largest cuts to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance in our nation’s history. While the legislation was federal, the effects will be hyper-local, impacting families, food pantries, and health care clinics, as…
Funding is essential to the operation and performance of public schools. Without adequate funding and resources, public schools are forced to maximize the limited amount that they do have. This often results in staffing cuts, programming cuts, and school closures and consolidations to keep the district operational. The current approach to school funding in West…