A Look at Opportunity in Cities in the Nation’s Third Most Rural State When one thinks of West Virginia, many things are likely to come to mind: natural beauty, John Denver, coal, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, poverty, opioids, state pride, and so on down the line. What isn’t likely to make a top ten list […]

Keep Your Paycheck Every year, shortly after January 1st, you go into work. After a week or two, you receive that year’s first paycheck. Much to your dismay, the list of taxes begin to pile up: federal, state, payroll. Each eating away at the money you earned. Each eating away at the things you’d otherwise […]

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 during his tenure as governor.  […]

It’s Groundhog Day in West Virginia In the 1993 hit movie starring Bill Murray, Groundhog Day, Bill Murray’s sarcastic, cynical character, tv weatherman Phil Connors, wakes up experiencing the same day over and over again, which, as the title suggests, is Groundhog Day. Once Phil realizes he cannot die, he begins to act as many […]

The Inflation Reduction Act Creates Insulin Price Caps The “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” is Washington’s latest attempt to fix problems it created. On Sunday, the Senate approved a package to combat climate change, lower healthcare costs, raise taxes, and, hopefully, reduce the federal deficit. The deal would provide for the most enormous burst of […]

The Hope Scholarship Lawsuit So Far As families try to navigate their options, it is important that they understand the legal proceedings surrounding the Hope Scholarship. This post won’t go into great detail about the parties who brought the lawsuit. You can read more about them in my article “Who Is Really Behind the Hope […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2022    FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Amanda Kieffer, Communications Director, The Cardinal Institute for WV Policy PHONE: (304)-541-9551| EMAIL: [email protected]     Cardinal Institute Encourages Continued Tax Reform Discussions   Charleston, WV – The Cardinal Institute is encouraged by recent proposals that rekindle the tax reform discussions and the […]

All the Money in the World and No Place to Spend It? Between COVID relief funds and budget surpluses, West Virginia is flush with cash, perhaps to an extent unlike any time in its history. The prudent question must be how the state will spend – or, better yet, invest – heretofore unappropriated monies to […]

Hope Scholarship Rules Are a Good Start On April 18, 2022, the Hope Scholarship Board passed an amended version of the rules to govern the Hope Scholarship. These rules are governing the program as emergency rules, pending final approval by the state legislature. These rules are not perfect but they do provide an excellent foundation […]

Not Everyone Wants Families to Choose Their Child’s Education People who think they know better than parents often seek to challenge programs aimed at empowering families. When West Virginia passed the Hope Scholarship, it was lauded by supporters as an opportunity to help invest in children who need help. Since the Hope Scholarship began receiving […]