No time to waste for WV COVID relief

 

Governor Jim Justice has just 70 days left to spend almost $1 billion in CARES Act funding, which is to help West Virginia's affected by the pandemic. Only $231 million of the $1.2 billion received from the federal government has been spent, leaving $969 million on the table. 

Recently, around 17 WV groups have joined together to call on the governor to direct this money to where it's urgently needed before we lose the chance. Here's the text of the letter and here's the content of a press release that went out today on the issue:

West Virginia Non-profits Call on Governor Justice to Reallocate Remaining CARES Act Funding

 

WV United Coalition drafts a people-centered proposal to address the urgent needs of West Virginians by reallocating and targeting remaining Coronavirus Relief Funds. 

CHARLESTON, W.V. -  As part of federal COVID-relief legislation passed in March, West Virginia received $1.25 billion to address the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. As of October 19, there is still over $969 million remaining unspent with the December 30 deadline for utilizing the funds approaching. Governor Justice’s current proposal would send over half of the remaining funds, or $587 million, to the state’s unemployment trust fund, despite WorkForce WV”s projections that the trust fund will only have a $216 million shortfall at the end of the calendar year. Allotting such a large share of the CARES Act funding to the trust fund when we have access to other funds to replenish it means that urgent priorities including housing insecurity, hunger, and testing and tracing, are not addressed. 

WV United, a group of nonprofits and community advocates in the state, have been advocating  for better targeted use of these funds. Recently, members of the group sent a letter to Governor Justice, asking for him to re-evaluate his plan and offered  a people-centered proposal on how this money can be spent to address the hardships so many West Virginians are facing.

The full letter to governor Justice can be viewed here.

“Our state’s most vulnerable citizens are facing hunger and homelessness through lay-offs and evictions,” commented Gary Zuckett, Director of WV Citizen Action, “Federal CARES funds now in the hands of our governor need to make it to these folks to avoid preventable Covid casualties and human suffering.”

This People’s proposal to spend the remaining CARES Act funding includes:

● Rent and mortgage relief for West Virginians facing eviction and foreclosure. 

● Utility assistance to prevent service cut-offs.

● COVID-19 testing, tracing efforts, and hazard pay. West Virginia’s current testing capacity falls short of the need to successfully suppress or mitigate the virus.

● Funding to support child care centers and parents with child care needs, including reimbursing child care options for families unable to find state-supported child care. 

● Increased payments to unemployed workers. 

● Food assistance and transportation needs for rural West Virginians. 

● Emergency Home Repairs. 

● Increased clothing vouchers. 

● Funding for Marshall University’s Minority Health Institute to study the disparate impacts of the crisis on Black and brown communities across the state.

The proposal also outlines that each of these areas must be funded with a recognition that Black, Brown, and low-income communities are disproportionately negatively impacted by this virus. The resources must be prioritized to these communities as they continue to face the most significant health and economic costs from the pandemic.  

“Even before COVID-19 hit West Virginia, working-class communities have been overburdened by expensive utility bills while out-of-state investors racked in huge amounts of profit.” said Karan Ireland, WV Sierra Club’s Senior Campaign Representative. “At a time when West Virginians are getting hit the hardest and as the weather gets colder the Governor must act to ensure all utility debts be forgiven and no family loses water orpower. Everyone must have access to their utilities so they can safely socially distance during this unprecedented pandemic.“

"Though time will tell how effective the CARES Act has been in relieving the hardship faced by West Virginians, we know that there are West Virginians still suffering the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jessica Ice, Executive Director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care. “Our Governor has the opportunity to direct funds to alleviate suffering in many areas. Our hope is that he chooses West Virginians when distributing funds and chooses them quickly before time runs  out."

You can help by calling the governor's office at 304-558-2000 or messaging him on social media (@WVGovernor on Twitter) using the hashtag #CARESACT4WV. 

 

WV groups urge state action on COVID-19

Around 15 WV organizations, including AFSC have signed on to this letter to WV Governor Jim Justice. It ran as an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail Saturday. Thanks to the WV Center on Budget and Policy for taking the lead on this:

As of publication, no cases of COVID-19 have been identified in West Virginia, but it is very likely only a matter of time until our state’s residents are affected.

While the Governor’s Office and state agencies are taking this issue very seriously, this pandemic has revealed serious holes in our state’s and nation’s health system, safety net and economic infrastructure. Fortunately, there are immediate measures that we, the undersigned, call on state officials to implement to address the situation.

In the short-term:

Begin holding daily press availability of staff of the Governor’s Office and the Bureau for Public Health. A key to preventing panic and keeping the public well-informed is the free flow of information and timely updates.

Waive copays and coinsurance for coronavirus testing and related visits. While the Public Employees Insurance Agency has announced this policy, West Virginia should require all insurers regulated by the state to cover coronavirus testing and related treatment at 100%, without coinsurance, copays or deductibles. This is critical to ensuring that cost concerns do not become a barrier to testing or treatment. People who go without testing because of cost concerns could spread COVID-19 to their communities.

Promote telehealth. West Virginia should require insurers to conduct outreach to consumers to make sure they are aware of telehealth benefits available to them to increase testing and decrease the spread of COVID 19. Telehealth services around COVID 19 diagnoses also should be covered at 100%, without coinsurance, deductibles or copays.

Bar utility shutoffs and evictions via executive action. Individuals and families who are financially affected by COVID-19 and the resulting economic downturn and layoffs must not have their utilities shut off. In particular, water is a critical need, as is electricity for people who rely on medical devices.
Temporarily suspend re-determination of eligibility for federal assistance programs, as allowed. This will ensure that there is no interruption of critical medical, food or other needs and that interruptions in the state’s workforce and ability to process applications will not disrupt benefits.

Provide good-cause exemptions for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, work requirements and time limits. SNAP work requirements and time limits should be waived entirely but, in the absence of the ability to do that, West Virginia should provide good-cause exemptions to all adults known as “ABAWDs,” Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents, ensuring access to food during this crisis. Outreach and education also should be conducted to let those who have previously been denied know they are eligible for benefits during this time.

Utilize contingency funds to provide outreach, education and testing to people who are most likely to be affected by COVID-19, including those in homeless shelters and West Virginians who visit food pantries and senior centers. Those who are most likely to be affected by community spread need to have access to health and food benefits and testing.

Waive the one-week waiting period for unemployment insurance benefits and “noncharge” benefits to protect employers. Suspending the waiting period will help ensure financial security among unemployed or temporarily separated workers as a result of COVID-19, while “noncharging” benefits will protect employers from bearing the brunt of the increased uptake in unemployment insurance.

Waive state policies that terminate a child’s eligibility for Child Care and Development Fund child care subsidies based on a specific number of absent days. This will allow parents to make the decision to keep sick or exposed children home, curtailing the spread of virus without jeopardizing their longer-term eligibility for child care assistance.

Adjust payment policies to child care providers so that they are based on enrollment of children rather than attendance. This is critical in allowing sick children and parents to stay home without disrupting revenue for providers.

Suspend charging those in our state’s prisons and jails money for phone calls. During this time while visitation is curbed, those in our prisons and jails must not be charged for staying in touch with loved ones.

In the longer term:

Pass paid-sick-days policies.
Protect and expand Medicaid.
Restore funding to public health.
Implement paid family and medical leave for public and private employees.

Because we must please our overlords

During the legislative session, HB 3142 made it through both houses. The bill calls for slashing coal severance taxes by $64 million. Here's some coverage of the debate at the time.  And here's an op-ed by my friend Sean O'Leary about why this is a bad idea.

Industry lobbyists claim it will pay for itself zillions of times over. Hmmm...where have we heard that kind of thing before? And how did it go?

It's unlikely that passing such a tax cut would have much of an effect on reversing the long term decline in coal jobs, but it's certain that it will take money away from other things. Reportedly, WV Governor Jim Justice is feeling conflicted about signing the bill into law.

WV people who want to do a good deed should consider calling his office 1-304-556-2000 and urging a veto. You can also contact his office online here. Throwing stuff out on social media wouldn't hurt either.

"Why in the world are we doing this?"

Say what you want about WV Governor Jim Justice--I certainly have. But he does have his moments. One of these occurred today at an impromptu press conference on the ominous omnibus senate education bill.

His main message was "why are we doing this?" While he admitted education in WV could be improved, he came out strongly against charter schools and attacks on teachers' organizations (paycheck "protection," which is more like paycheck reduction). He admitted that he believed the senate bill was at least partially an act of retaliation against teachers. He said that he'd veto the bill in its current form and urged that it be broken up into component parts, each of which could be considered independently. And he called for the passage of a clean pay-raise bill for teachers and state workers.

The main theme seemed to be that we don't need something this divisive, saying "Come on, we're better than this."

It's still unclear how the senate under the leadership of Mitch Carmichael will respond or what the house thinks about the whole thing. In a worst case scenario, the veto, if it happened within a certain time, could be overturned by a simple majority.

Still, he came out and strongly said things that many of us have been saying.

Obviously, it's nowhere near over and we need to stay on this. Still, this was something that probably nobody was expecting this morning.

Subsidize this

The latest WV Public Radio Front Porch podcast/program is about Gov. Jim Justice's proposal to get the federal government to subsidize eastern coal as a matter of rent seeking national security and also about disasters like Hurricane Harvey.

More important, however, is the pressing question of what food item would be your nickname if sandwiched (no pun intended) between your first and last name? You may have to listen to make sense of that one.

The West Virginia connection?

I've argued for a long time that WV should change its sadly outdated state motto from "Mountaineers are always free" to "you can't make this **** up" for a good while now. The latest proof that this step is needed is a story put out by CNN yesterday about a new twist in the Russia investigation that suggested someone from WV tried to arrange a meeting between campaign aids and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Two possible connections were suggested: WV Governor Jim Justice, who switched his party affiliation to Republican during Trump's recent visit, and Republican legislator Riley Moore, nephew of Senator Shelley Moore Capito. Gov. Justice denied being that person.

Who knew that El Cabrero's beloved (sort of) state of West Virginia would become a hotbed of international intrigue? One can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Bare bones

Well, West Virginia finally has a state budget, assuming the governor doesn't veto it, which I doubt will happen. It's pretty bare bones.

Most disturbing is the $16 million cut in higher education in a state that desperately needs to raise its educational attainment level, which will raise costs for students. After spending half a mill on the special session.

Here are some facts about higher ed and the state budget from the WV Center on Budget and Policy:

*Average tuition at West Virginia’s public colleges and universities has increased by $4,200 since 2002, a 147 percent increase, and far outpacing inflation.

*Tuition increases, in large part, have been fueled by falling public support for higher education. Since 2008, state spending in higher education has declined by $130 million, adjusting for inflation.

*As tuitions have increased, so has student debt. The average debt of a college graduate in West Virginia has increased by 70 percent since 2005. West Virginia also has the second highest student loan default rate in the country.

*Tuition increases have eroded the value of the state’s financial aid programs. The share of tuition covered by the PROMISE scholarship has fallen from 100 percent to 70 percent.

This was the second year in a row the state skated to the edge of a government shutdown. Back in what I didn't realize were the good old days, the legislative session was 60 days with maybe a  mostly drama-free week right after to nail down the budget. I'm hoping this doesn't turn into Groundhog Day.

On the bright side, the budget doesn't include tax changes that would make the bottom 80 percent pay more while giving a big break to the wealthy, a measure that would have also cost the state hundreds of millions in lost revenue in future years. One bad year is betting than signing up for a bunch of them.

Here are two views on the budget process by two veteran reporters, Phil Kabler from the Gazette-Mail and Brad McElhenny from WV Metro-News.

Groundhog Day, WV style

In Bill Murray’s classic movie, “Groundhog Day,” the main character winds up having to live through the same day over and over.

West Virginia’s ongoing budget crisis and standoff is starting to remind me of that ... minus the personal growth, romance and happy ending.

The twisted path to our current mess goes back several years, beginning with hundreds of millions of dollars in tax cuts first enacted around 10 years ago. We were told that the business tax cuts “would pay for themselves,” something which has never happened anywhere.

They didn’t.

We were also told the cuts would lead to the creation of many new jobs.

They didn’t.

We have several thousand fewer private sector jobs in the state now than 10 years ago.

Take those ingredients, shake, and throw in market-driven declines in the coal and gas industries, and that’s the recipe for how we got here.

Over the past several years, around $600 million has been cut from the state budget, including higher-education spending, which has declined in absolute and relative terms. There’s not a lot of fat left to trim. Further cuts would likely harm kids, college students of all ages, seniors, veterans and working people, not to mention everyone else.

Many of the current crop of legislators are opposed to tax increases to make up the difference. Last year, the budget controversy nearly led to a partial state shutdown. And things aren’t all that rosy this year.

One idea for a resolution to this problem is a “compromise” proposal supported by the Senate and Gov. Jim Justice, all for the best of reasons.

On the positive side, the compromise would avoid the possibility of a partial shutdown and would provide a temporary increase in revenue.

On the downside, proposed cuts to the state income tax would cost the state more over time than any increases in revenue from consumption taxes.

This would mean an ongoing budget crisis every year, with more and more painful cuts to things we need, like schools, higher and vocation education, public safety, health care, etc.

That would be the bad “Groundhog Day” part.

On top of that, the kinds of taxes that would increase are regressive, meaning they would hit people with low incomes hardest. Those with higher incomes would get a big break, since income taxes are progressive, in that they are the only state tax actually based on ability to pay: The rate goes up a bit as income grows.

It’s been argued that this shift from income to consumption taxes would be the biggest tax cut for the rich in West Virginia history, which is saying something.

Think Robin Hood in reverse.

There is a better way. A number of citizen groups, as well as political leaders, have proposed a simple solution to the mess that would avoid cuts to education, public broadcasting, higher ed, the Promise Scholarship, health and human services, etc. It would avert a shutdown. It would not blow a huge hole into future state budgets. It would also avoid the “Groundhog Day” effect of repeated annual crises.

The proposal:

1. A modest increase in the sales tax from 6 percent to 6.5 percent.

2. Expand sales taxes to cover services and industries that have so far avoided taxation.

3. Enact a fair-share tax of 1 percent on incomes over $200,000.

4. Offset the impact of higher sales taxes on low income families by enacting a 5 percent Earned Income Tax Credit.

Taken together, these measures would provide around $270 million in revenue.

It’s not a silver bullet, but it could point the way to a fair solution, or at least shift the conversation to a more productive direction.

If we don’t come up with a better solution, on the order of this one, West Virginia is likely to share the fate of Kansas, where ill-advised tax cuts once again failed to deliver and left things in shambles.

In baseball, that would be called an unforced error.

You could also call it a series of really bad Groundhog Days.

(Note: this appeared in today's Charleston Gazette-Mail.)

Making sense where there isn't a lot

If you've been trying to make sense of the budget mess in the state capitol, good luck. Here are a couple of news articles that lay out the basics, one from MetroNews and one from the Gazette-Mail. Short version: it's a mess and there's a lot at stake.

Here's my take on it, as published in a Gazette op-ed this week: 

Gov. Jim Justice seems confident that a deal on the state budget is within reach, having told those attending a news conference, “I think we’re on a pathway to pass a budget that’s going to be really special.”

Of course, things could be “special” in all kinds of ways.

I really appreciate the governor’s sustained effort on behalf of a budget that benefits all West Virginians and doesn’t throw any of us under the bus (not to mention the fact that he raised the bar significantly on any and all future news conferences involving visual props).

While I understand the desire to reach a deal with the Republican Legislature, I hope the result isn’t a “compromise” that would hurt working families while giving a tax cut to the wealthy and causing more serious fiscal problems down the road.

Some elements of a proposed “compromise” proposal now being discussed are pretty ominous. These include major cuts to the state’s income tax, which is the only tax based on the ability to pay; increases in regressive consumer taxes; and the promise of long-term and ongoing budget deficits that could further slash the things we need to thrive in the years to come.

As Brad McElhinny reported for Metro News, the proposed compromise would “raise revenue up to $50 million for the coming fiscal year but cut revenue by $170 million each of the following two years, an analysis says.”

An assessment by Mark Muchow, deputy secretary of the Department of Revenue, estimates that, by 2020, this will cause a revenue decline of $220 million due to income tax cuts. This would come on top of year after year of major budget cuts.

On top of that, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the proposed compromise would raise taxes for the bottom 80 percent of West Virginia households, while cutting them for the wealthiest 20. The biggest winners would be the wealthiest 1 percent, who would see a cut of over $3,700.

This comes at a time when revenue increases are needed for the things we value most: schools, higher education, infrastructure, kids, seniors, veterans, parks, recreation, etc.

It’s one thing to raise revenue to maintain our quality of life, but making the tax system more unfair to low-income families in order to give yet another break to those who don’t need it is just wrong.

As Sean O’Leary, from the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, recently tweeted, “If WV is going to increase taxes on working families, it should be for investing in schools, roads. Not to pay for tax cuts on the wealthy.”

What West Virginia needs is a compromise that doesn’t compromise our future.

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Act now to protect West Virginia's future

WV Governor Jim Justice has issued a call for a special session of the legislature to start on May 4 to work on the state budget. The governor seems confident that a deal is within reach, having told those attending a press conference that “I think we’re on a pathway to pass a budget that’s going to be really special,”

Of course things could be "special" in all kinds of ways. While I appreciate the governor's attempt to reach a deal with the Republican legislature, I hope he doesn't reach a "compromise" that would hurt working families while giving a tax cut to the wealthy and causing more serious fiscal problems down the road. You can read more on that here and here.

This is a time when revenue increases are needed to preserve the things we value most: schools, higher education, infrastructure, kids, seniors, veterans, parks, recreation, etc. That's one thing. But making the tax system more unfair to low income families while giving a break to the well off is just wrong.

As my friend Sean O'Leary from the WV Center on Budget and Policy recently tweeted, "If WV is going to increase taxes on working families, it should be for investing in schools, roads. Not to pay for tax cuts on the wealthy."

If the Republicans want to force the issue--and they have the votes--then so be it. Let them own it. All of it.

So what can you do about it? Several things, including:

*Call the governor's office and say something like, "Thank Gov. Justice for fighting for a budget that's good for all West Virginians. But please don't accept a compromise that hurts working West Virginians and makes our problems worse in the future."

*Contact your legislators. You can find out who they are here. The legislative website is here.

*Learn more by watching this Facebook Live presentation by Sean Monday, May 1 at 5:30.

*Show up at the capitol on Thursday, May 4 at 9:00 to stand up for The People's Budget.

Game on. And for real.

A new motto?

There’s been a lot of buzz lately about how the website WalletHub came up with a list of the best and worst places for millennials to live.

It’s no surprise that West Virginia came out on the bottom. But, as my friend Stephen Smith wrote with Pastor Mason Ballard in a Gazette-Mail op-ed online, it’s the best state to come to, if you want to make a difference.

And God knows we need that.

One of the reasons West Virginia might be unattractive to younger newcomers is the fact that it’s kind of falling apart, and the Republican majority in the Legislature apparently wants to pass a poverty budget that keeps things that way, by cutting K-12 and higher education, slashing social services and neglecting to invest in our people and infrastructure.Gazette-Mail reporter

Phil Kabler had a great riff on that theme in a recent column in which he envisioned the state as a shabby and unmaintained apartment for rent in a run-down neighborhood where schools are neglected and teachers laid off. Who would want to live in a place like that unless they had to?

One thing that could make things better in the short term is a budget that invests in people and infrastructure, along the lines that Gov. Jim Justice has proposed. Before a certain memorable news conference, lots of people I know were hoping he would veto the Legislature’s proposed budget. And some of us, including me, sounded the alarm and urged people to contact the governor in support of a veto.

I guess that’s something we can scratch off the list. And that’s no (metaphorical) BS.

It’s hard to tell how the budget battle will go, but there’s a lot riding on it. And a lot depends on whether and how much ordinary West Virginians are willing to stand up in support of the kind of budget that protects our people and gets us back on the road.

I do hope that, if and when a budget deal is sealed, it won’t involve a “compromise” that shifts the weight of taxes to those who can least afford it and sets up another fiscal crisis down the road.

Meanwhile, recent events have convinced me that I should devote my remaining days to updating the state motto to bring it up (or down) to date. “Mountaineers are always free” was great, but more suited to the days when our appetite for fighting for ordinary working people was more apparent.

My suggested replacement is: “You can’t make this **** up.” At least until such time as the other one fits again.

(Note: I even started looking for how to say this in Latin, until I was reminded that, as of 2016, the Legislature made English the state’s official language. I guess I can scratch that off the list, too.)

(This op-ed ran in today's Gazette-Mail)

You really can't make this **** up

The website WalletHub recently came up with a list of the best and worst places for millennials to live. It's no surprise that West Virginia came out on the bottom. But, as my friend Stephen Smith wrote with Pastor Mason Ballard, it's the best state to come to if you want to make a difference. And God knows we need that.

One of the reasons WV is unattractive to newcomers is the fact that it's kind of falling apart and the Republican majority in the legislature wants to pass a poverty budget that keeps things that way. Gazette-Mail reporter Phil Kabler had a great riff on that theme in the first part of this column.

One thing that could make things better is a budget that invests in people and infrastructure, as Gov. Jim Justice has proposed. Some of us were hoping he would veto the  legislature's proposed budget. And some of us, including me, sounded the  alarm and urged people to contact the governor in support of a veto.

I guess that's something to scratch off the list. And that's no (metaphorical) BS.

Two last thoughts:

*first, this really is the year of political props; and

*second, as I've argued before, we really should change the state motto from "Mountaineers are always free" to "You can't make this **** up" At least until we deserve the old motto again.

Easy action alert to protect WV

If you live in WV and want to do a good deed for the day, here's your chance. Call Gov. Jim Justice's office at 304-558-2000 and tell whoever answers that you want the governor to veto the bad budget passed by the legislature and fight for one good for WV kids, families and seniors. Don't forget to thank him for his work on this so far.

Also, if you're around Charleston, which I won't be, show up to support a decent budget tomorrow (Thursday, April 13) at 2:00 in the lower rotunda of the capitol. The governor is expected to make an important announcement about the budget at that time.

You can read more here,

SNAP crackle pop

The latest Front Porch includes  a pretty brisk debate on  (food stamps), poverty and the current budget showdown in WV politics. You can check it out here.

Meanwhile, re: ACA. Damn.

A good deed

So far 2017 hasn't been a great year for blogging, especially around here. Come to think of it, it may not be good for much more that Saturday Night Live skits.

Still, here's one thing you could do to make it a little better: help save WV Public Broadcasting, which has been zeroed out in Gov. Justice's "good" budget. It's easy: just click on this link and sign the petition and share the link to your networks.

And then for good measure, you can call the Governor's office at 304-558-2000 and say something like:

"I'm calling to urge Gov. Justice to save WV Public Broadcasting. I'm glad Gov. Justice is serious about raising revenue to save WV, but let's not lose this along the way."

(In case you were wondering about whether this is a conflict of interest because of my role in the Front Porch program/podcast, let me just say that I get no compensation for that--and I'm worth it.)

There's plenty more to rant about, but I gotta run...