Commentary
Ted Boettner: Be thankful the balanced budget amendment was rejected
November 23, 2011 -- The Charleston Gazette -- Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a constitutional balanced budget amendment. This is good news. If passed, it could have led to severe budget cuts to vital programs, such as Medicare, Social Security and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Read
Renate Pore: Simple health care for all
August 28, 2011, The Charleston Gazette -- The Affordable Care Act, the national health care reform legislation, is winding its way through the courts on the way to the Supreme Court for a decision sometime next year. Read
Paul Miller: Missing a $22M opportunity
July 17, 2011, Parkersburg News and Sentinel -- The governor has only six weeks remaining to pass legislation to draw down the remaining $22 million dollars in federal stimulus money for unemployed workers. Read
Also published in The Charleston Gazette on July 20, 2011. Read
Renate Pore: Minds must be changed to fix health care
June 23, 2011, The Charleston Gazette -- The headline in the June 10 edition of the Gazette, "Medicare and Medicaid -- right ideas, wrong approach," does not describe the article which follows. I am sure that Dr. Jim Felsen, the author, does not wish to suggest that Medicare and Medicaid are wrong approaches to providing health care for millions of Americans Read
Ted Boettner: Loopholes, preferences reduce tax collections
May 19, 2011, The Charleston Gazette -- The Gazette's editorial on tax havens was an eye-opener. The use of tax havens, along with myriad tax loopholes and special preferences, has dramatically lowered federal corporate tax revenues to historical lows. While Cisco CEO John Chambers notes that the United States has the highest corporate income tax rate (35 percent), no companies pay this top rate. Read
Renate Pore: W.Va. groups oppose Manchin approach to deficit reduction
May 15. 2011, The Charleston Gazette -- A number of statewide and local organizations have been meeting to discuss their dismay over deficit-cutting proposals in Congress that would cap the federal budget and turn Medicaid into a block grant. Read
Renate E. Pore: GOP proposals out of touch
Medicare and Medicaid stand between Dickensian misery and early death for many of us. Read
Ted Boettner and Sean O'Leary: No more shifting tax burden
April 11, 2011, The Charleston Gazette -- A number of budget issues are converging in Congress. The outcome of this debate will have a long-lasting impact on our country. Read
Elizabeth Paulhus: The state could get $22 million were it to cover part-timers
April 7, 2011, Charleston Daily Mail -- Imagine turning on Monday Night Football and watching the players take to the field wearing leather helmets without facemasks. Imagine seeing players make helmet-to-helmet hits or strike an opponent's neck or face, all without penalty. Read
Paul E. Miller: This session last chance for $22 million in stimulus funds
February 26, 2011, The Charleston-Gazette -- Only about one-third of jobless workers qualify for unemployment benefits because of outdated eligibility restrictions in the state's unemployment insurance program. Read
Elizabeth Paulhus: We can do more for the poor
February 1, 2011, The Charleston Gazette -- Acting Governor Tomblin should be applauded for speaking up for the thousands of families in West Virginia struggling to make ends meet during this tough economic time, but If Tomblin and other lawmakers want a more effective way to help West Virginia's struggling families, they might want to take a more targeted approach. Read
Tom White and Ted Boettner: Study of coal property tax issue declined
November 28, 2010, The Charleston Gazette -- The state Tax Department's Property Valuation Training and Procedures Commission has declined to act on a request by the Assessors Association to develop a plan to appraise and tax coal under lease by coal producers. Read
Renate Pore: Campaign over; health care lies set straight
November 14, 2010, The Charleston Gazette -- Now that the election of 2010 is over, I hope we can move from hyperbole to common sense on health-care reform. Read
Coal severance tax good for West Virginia business
November 12, 2010, The State Journal -- Our report, "The Impact of Coal on the West Virginia State Budget," recommended an increase in the coal severance tax to create a permanent energy trust fund and to distribute more funds to coal producing counties for economic diversification. Read
Eliminating business personal property tax would hurt education funding
October 29, 2010, The Legislature -- study showed that funding for schools would be drastically reduced if business personal property were removed from property tax rolls. Read
Ted Boettner: West Virginians must face coal's future
September 30, 2010, The Charleston Gazette -- We need to tax coal to help cover what it costs us. The Daily Mail's Sept. 15 editorial, "Another coal study is not worth it," asserted that the costs imposed by the coal industry are not "facts" and that the Legislature shouldn't waste its time with such trivial matters. Read
Paul E. Miller: Protect jobless trust fund
September 9, 2010, The Charleston Gazette -- During August legislative interims, Workforce West Virginia projected that the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund would go broke in February and would remain insolvent until the state receives additional employer contributions around May. Read
Voice of the people: Renewing Bush tax cuts will cost
August 29, 2010, Herald-Dispatch -- Recent media coverage of the Bush tax cuts has misrepresented Obama's policies. Read
State should seize opportunity of clean coal energy
August 26, 2010, Beckley Register-Hearld -- At his 1961 inauguration, Gov. Wally Barron declared, “Coal remains the hub of our wheel. No other industry affects the economic picture of West Virginia as much as does the production of the mines. Read
Ted Boettner: Elder policy planning
August 8, 2010, The Charleston Gazette -- West Virginia, like many other states, has an aging population. The total number of children is declining while the population over age 65 is growing. As a percent of total population, West Virginia is the second-oldest state in the nation. Even more significant is the increase in the number of people over age 85. These trends have major policy implications. Read
Gary Zuckett and Ted Boettner: Budget and jobs deficits are linked
June 26, 2010, The Charleston Gazzette -- We have the ability to both address the deficit and take on what should be our nation's most compelling and urgent priority: putting people back to work. If we do this, it will lower our country's debt over the long term. Read
Paul E. Miller: Another bailout looms in W.Va.
June 22, 2010, The Charleston Gazette -- Policymakers are now suggesting that "surplus revenue" from the state's Rainy Day Fund be used to lend money to the state's financially strapped Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to keep it from becoming insolvent by the end of 2010. Thirty-one other states have been unable to keep their unemployment insurance funds solvent in the recession. Read
Ted Boettner: Crisis may be overstated
June 14, 2010, The Charleston Gazette -- Phil Kabler recently told readers the state's $8 billion unfunded retiree health care liability, or Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB), represented "the biggest financial crisis facing the state." Read
Renate Pore: Child's first years are key to success -- or failure
May 16, 2010, The Charleston Gazette -- When you enter Little Creek Park in South Charleston, there is a sign that always puts a lump in my throat and a smile on my lips: "Please slow down. We have many children, but none to spare." Read
Paul Miller and Rick Wilson: Make use of energy program
May 3, 2010, The Charleston Gazette -- There have been some headlines in the papers lately about problems some agencies are having with home weatherization, but this shouldn't blind us to the real opportunities and benefits these programs can offer if done right. Read
Renate Pore: Capito should support Medicaid expansion
December 17, 2009, The Charleston Gazette -- Health reform is still being debated in the U.S. Senate, but as we get closer to the end, it looks like both versions of the bill will have very good news for West Virginia. Read
Ted Boettner: W.Va. lags in fostering green jobs
September 6, 2009, Sunday Gazette-Mail -- Across the country, states are taking action to create growth in the green economy. Governors are establishing task forces and commissions, developing action plans and policies, and making direct investments in green economic development. Read
Paul E. Miller: ARRA Provides Economic Stimulus, Not Stagnation
September 4, 2009, The State Journal -- John Dove’s recent commentary that the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has been economic "stagnation" is flawed and misleading. Read
Paul E. Miller: Quick action would help the unemployed
August 9, 2009, The Charleston Gazette -- More than 6,000 jobless workers in West Virginia are expected to exhaust all of their unemployment benefits by the end of the year. Quick thinking and legislative action could help these jobless workers survive a deepening recession by adding 20 additional weeks of Extended Benefits. Read
Renate Pore: Real health-care reform or bust -- literally
June 27, 2009, Sunday Gazette-Mail -- Listen up, West Virginia. The most important debate of the past 50 years will begin in Congress and fill the airwaves this summer. The outcome of the debate will decide if the USA will have an affordable health-care system that rewards efficiency and improves our health. Or if we will continue down an unsustainable road of a wildly inefficient profit-driven health-care system that eats up an ever greater percent of our family budget and our national treasure. Read
Ted Boettner: Federal funds buy time for long-term budget solutions Advertisement
May 10, 2009, Lawmakers will have a ready tool when they reconvene at the end of the month to pass a budget for the coming fiscal year. The federal Recovery Act provides almost $2 billion to West Virginia - more than enough money to fill the projected $200 million budget gap. While some of the funds are earmarked for new projects, such as highway and bridge repairs, Congress intended for states to use a portion of the money to avert cuts in state spending. Read
Renate Pore: Fast action needed on health care
While the problems facing the incoming president are daunting, a time of crisis may be the best opportunity to finally put in place a health-care policy that provides affordable coverage for all. | PDF
Ted Boettner and Paul Miller
West Virginia Loses 18,900 Manufacturing Jobs Since 2000: U.S. trade
deficit restricts creation of additional 17,800 jobs.
While West Virginians worry about mounting losses on Wall Street, an issue closer to Main Street is receiving less attention. Some of the best-paying jobs in West Virginia are disappearing at an alarming rate. | PDF / HTML
Robert Diznoff
Temporary Gas-Tax Freeze Doesn't Address Real Problem
July 20, 2008, The Sunday Gazette-Mail -- The governor and the state Legislature missed a golden opportunity during the recent special session to address West Virginia's energy future. | HTML / PDF
Renate E. Pore
W. Va. Medicaid: A closer look at the numbers
July 13, 2008, The Charleston Gazette -- Next to the federal Medicare program for the elderly, West Virginia Medicaid is the single most important health insurance and long-term care program in the state. In 2009, it is expected to generate $2.6 billion in state economic activity (about 4 percent of state GDP) with $2 billion coming from federal funds. | HTML / PDF
Dean Baker and Ted Boettner
Bad times in W. Va.: Can the next president help?
May 25, 2008, The Charleston Gazette -- Not since the Democratic presidential contest of 1960 between John Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey has West Virginia occupied center stage in a national election. With West Virginia in the spotlight, working families have a rare opportunity to put their economic concerns on the national stage. | HTML / PDF
Taking the High Road: Surveys Show the Way -- Overwhelming consensus of the literature is that state and city taxes have at most a minor impact on business location decisions.
Ted Boettner responds to Dan Page's column in the March 7 issue of The State Journal which levels several criticisms about the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and its recent report "High Costs, Dubious Benefits." | Read HTML / PDF
Ted Boettner and Renate Pore
What benefits West Virginia?: Instead of tax cuts, let's invest in kids
and health care
The Legislature is considering corporate tax cuts with SB 465 and SB 680. If these tax cuts are adopted, West Virginia will lose about $121 million a year when they are fully implemented, or $524 million over the next eight years... | Read HTML / PDF
Ted Boettner: Ice Cream Doesn't Cause Shark Attacks
The Daily Mail's Jan. 21 editorial, "Those tax cuts should be kept," stated that President Bush's tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 should be made permanent because federal revenues have grown by 40 percent between 2003 and 2007... | Read HTML / PDF