OpEds

February 14, 2024 by Sean O'Leary
WV’s Revenue Tax Gap Grows as Changes Phase In

Spirit of Jefferson - After five years of flat budgets, lawmakers returned to Charleston for the 2024 legislative session with many important spending priorities to address major needs. Members of the Republican majority have said they want to provide pay raises for public employees and raise starting salaries in sectors with vacancies, increase provider reimbursement…

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January 18, 2024 by Sara Whitaker
Sara Whitaker: Stop Asking the Fox What Ails the Hen House (Opinion)

Charleston Gazette-Mail - Three days before Christmas, a 24-year-old man died at the Southern Regional Jail in Raleigh County. He was one of at least 27 people who died at that one facility over the past three years. Read the full op-ed. This could be a moment for action — a chance to finally address…

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December 8, 2023 by Kelly Allen
Kelly Allen: Gov. Justice Must Bring Back 6-year Budget Plan (Opinion)

Charleston Gazette-Mail, Martinsburg Journal - The only thing West Virginia lawmakers are constitutionally required to do during the Legislature’s regular session is to pass a state budget for the ensuing fiscal year. But responsible stewardship requires looking beyond just the next year to ensure the state is on a sustainable fiscal path, as elected officials…

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November 16, 2023 by Sara Whitaker
What a Community of Care Looks Like

Charleston Gazette-Mail - Last month, Derek Hudson walked out of Charleston’s Bream SHOP to find a distraught man yelling that his bike had been stolen from the sidewalk. The man paced back and forth, on the verge of tears. The handful of people outside Bream SHOP averted their eyes and avoided engaging with him. Read…

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October 4, 2023 by Sean O'Leary
A Deeper Look at West Virginia’s 2022 Poverty Data

Spirit of Jefferson - According to the Census Bureau’s official poverty estimates, West Virginia saw its child poverty rate increase from 20.7 percent to 25.0 percent between 2021 and 2022, the only state to see an increase by the official measure (along with Puerto Rico). In 2022, West Virginia’s child poverty rate was the second…

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June 28, 2023 by Kelly Allen
Manufactured Revenue Comes at Cost of Services (Opinion)

Charleston Gazette-Mail - For West Virginia to thrive, we need great schools, safe communities and quality infrastructure. With the end of the state’s fiscal year upon us, the upcoming days will undoubtedly be inundated with news releases and news coverage of West Virginia’s revenue surplus. Unfortunately, rather than the surplus signaling a thriving economy, it…

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June 27, 2023 by Seth DiStefano
New SNAP Restrictions Will Worsen Hunger for Older West Virginians

West Virginia News, Exponent-Telegram, Spirit of Jefferson - SNAP restrictions included in this month’s federal debt limit deal will impact the Mountain State more severely than any other state on a per capita basis due to West Virginia’s aging population. Read the full op-ed. Nationwide, nearly 750,000 older adults aged 50-54 will be at risk…

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March 24, 2023 by Rhonda Rogombe
Opinion: Health Policy, the Social Safety Net, and the 2023 Legislative Session

Morgan Messenger - West Virginia has long faced significant health-related challenges, many of which could have been meaningfully addressed by bills introduced during the 2023 legislative session. While a couple of positive health-focused bills were passed by the legislature this year, unfortunately lawmakers focused much of their attention on health-related policies based on fear—not facts.…

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February 17, 2023 by Kelly Allen
Kelly Allen: Disaster Artists Behind Kansas Tax Cuts Eyeing WV (Opinion)

Charleston Gazette-Mail, Times West Virginian - “Go big or go home.” That was the message from Stephen Moore — an adviser to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback on his disastrous tax experiment — during a panel promoting tax cuts earlier this week. Alongside him was Grover Norquist, who famously said of the state’s supply-side driven tax…

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January 6, 2023 by Kelly Allen
Kelly Allen: What’s Up With WV’s Supposed Budget Surplus? (Opinion)

Charleston Gazette-Mail - What’s going on in West Virginia? Month after month, we see news releases from Gov. Jim Justice and other elected officials touting historic revenue surpluses, sending the impression that West Virginia’s economy is thriving and that the state has more tax revenue than it knows what to do with. Read the full…

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