The Cardinal's Nest

West Virginia Should Reinstate the Standard Deduction Did you know that West Virginia’s tax filings don’t have a standard deduction? Reinstating it as part of West Virginia’s income taxes could be a step in the right direction to provide for smart, simplified tax policy for Mountaineers. What is the… Read More

Keep the Receipt for Tax Rebates Ballot Measures Defeated in West Virginia On November 8, 2022, West Virginia’s voters headed to the ballot to vote. Before them were many voting options, not only on many of the state’s elected leaders, but, in unusual fashion for West Virginia, on several ballot… Read More

Top Five Education Bills to Watch in the 2023 West Virginia Legislative Session The 86th Session of the West Virginia Legislature convened on January 11, 2023. At the time of writing this blog post, 1,875 bills have been introduced this session. From these, there are five pieces of… Read More

Possible SALT Deduction Workaround A new state income tax workaround may find itself welcome in the Mountain State during the 2023 Legislative Session. This new workaround would bypass the $10,000 cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions at the federal level. The cap on SALT deductions are a pro… Read More

Interviewing OpenAI’s ChatGPT About Certificate of Need Laws Technology is growing incredibly fast, so I wanted to see what AI thinks of current health care regulations. I recently sat down with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and was briefly able to discuss Certificate of Need (CON) laws with it. Here is… Read More

The Legislature has approved the Hope Scholarship Rules, so what? Since the West Virginia Supreme Court lifted the injunction in October, the Hope Scholarship program has been moving ahead with implementation. One of the most crucial elements of implementation has been the establishment of the progr… Read More

Survey Says . . .  Leading into the 2023 Legislative Session, our team at the Cardinal Institute commissioned a public opinion survey to track and determine the attitudes and opinions of West Virginia voters on the issues that concern them the most in our state.    … Read More

Reflections on the 2023 State of the State Address January 11th, 2023 West Virginia State of the State Address On Wednesday, January 11, 2023, slightly past 7pm, Gov. Jim Justice delivered what was, perhaps, the most optimistic and upbeat State of the State Address of the seven he has delivered… Read More

Occupational Licensure Stands in the Way of the Path to Prosperity The path to prosperity, for most people, starts with income. Income, collected and saved over time, is what lines the coffers of most financially secure people, regardless of what they may have converted it to over the… Read More

Occupational Licensing Reduces Mobility For those considering a move to West Virginia, there is little mobility between states when it comes to licensing requirements. Across the nation, nearly one in four workers require a professional license to perform their job. Occupational… Read More