West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy

10/23/2026

"About 5.5 million people lost food assistance through SNAP in the year since enactment of the 2025 reconciliation law. This includes about 2 million children, who were not targeted by the law’s eligibility restrictions.

"The drop in SNAP participation and spending is considerably more than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted... The most likely reason for the larger-than-expected cut is the impact of the 2025 reconciliation law shifting enormous new SNAP costs to states, which they owe starting in fiscal year 2028. CBO estimated the cost shift mandate would have no impact until 2028. But it has already led many states to erect barriers to people’s SNAP participation, such as more paperwork and other requirements that states often don’t have the staff to administer.

"The reconciliation law granted a few states a two-year delay for this harmful cost shift. Congress should extend the delay to all states before the end of the year, given SNAP losses outpacing predictions and the high cost of groceries and other basic needs."

The outsized drops suggest that people not ostensibly targeted by the 2025 reconciliation law’s eligibility restrictions are losing SNAP anyway. That includes many children, seniors, and people with disabilities.

10/22/2026

SNAP is about more than putting food on the table. It’s about supporting families, strengthening local economies, and caring for our neighbors.

But changes under HR 1 shift more SNAP costs to states and threaten the stability of a program so many West Virginians depend on. Without adequate funding, families could face greater hardship, and food pantries, churches, and community organizations could be left trying to fill the gaps.

Check out this video where Rev. Dyson, Executive Director of the West Virginia Council of Churches, and the WVCBP's very own Seth DiStefano break down what’s at stake and what we can do.

Food is a basic need. No family should have to wonder where their next meal will come from. Let’s work together to protect SNAP and ensure West Virginians receive the support they need to stay healthy and well.

10/22/2026

"Tamaya Browder, education policy fellow for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said the lawsuit reflects longstanding concerns about the program’s effect on public school funding and its lack of transparency.

“'The voucher program was allowed to continue on in the same way that it’s been without any guardrails, without any true accountability or transparency to the public,' Browder said.

"Browder said public funding for the Hope Scholarship competes with funding available for public schools. She also argued the program has done little to expand educational options in rural communities.

"In Mingo County, Browder said, only one school has received voucher funds. New Beginnings Christian School is the county’s only private educational institution.

"Browder said addressing public school funding challenges requires both reforming the state’s funding formula, which has not been updated since 1993, and placing greater limits on the voucher program."

Quick take:

10/21/2026

Next legislative session, state lawmakers will face mounting budget pressure as the TANF reserve funds they have relied on to fund a significant chunk of child care subsidies, foster care payments, and other priorities will be exhausted in the next year or two. The General Revenue funds they could have turned to have been slashed via several rounds of income tax cuts.

For years, West Virginia underspent our annual TANF dollars, allowing us to build up a sizeable TANF reserve fund. Not until lawmakers passed deep tax cuts in 2023 that cut state revenues by more than $800 million per year did they significantly increase TANF spending. Beginning with the FY 2024 budget, enacted during the same legislative session as the personal income tax cuts, TANF spending spiked well above the annual TANF amount received, which meant that West Virginia was dipping into its TANF reserves, or one-time funds, to pay for ongoing program costs.

Between 2023 and 2025, TANF spending increased by 51 percent, or $61 million. Over that period, the increased spending meant the state spent down its TANF reserve from $142 million to about $83 million. At this pace, the TANF reserve could be fully exhausted by the end of Federal Fiscal Year 2027—the current budget year.

When lawmakers return to Charleston in January, they will have important budget work to do, including finding alternative revenue sources for vital child well-being and prevention programs currently funded with TANF reserve dollars. They must abandon efforts to cut taxes and focus instead on funding the programs and services that keep children safe and enhance family economic security.

Learn more in our new blog post:

West Virginians have become much more familiar with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) over the last year after a spring announcement from Governor Morrisey stated that several programs were facing potential cuts as a result of a structural deficit in the program. Residents around the st...

10/20/2026

Trump’s 2025 tax cuts are heavily skewed toward the well-off.

10/20/2026

"West Virginia lawmakers are trying to be optimistic about the legislature’s ability to fix the school aid funding formula in their next regular session despite repeated failed attempts over the years.

"The West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy has tracked 140 school closures since 2011. So far, in the 2026-2027 school year, closures and consolidations have been proposed in Logan, Mingo, Boone, Raleigh and Nicholas Counties.

“'The state is facing a school funding crisis right now,' Del. Andy Shamblin (R-Kanawha) said. 'We’re seeing it across the state with school closures, consolidations. And I think that the legislature in the upcoming session is going to have to bite the bullet on this and do something.

"The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of West Virginia filed a 50-page Writ of Mandamus last month requesting that the Supreme Court of Appeals compel the legislature to fix the formula in accordance with the state constitution, which obligates the state to provide “thorough and efficient system of free schools."

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) — West Virginia lawmakers are trying to be optimistic about the legislature’s ability to fix the school aid funding formula in their next regular session despit…

10/16/2026

This week in Budget Beat:
- WV Now Up to 13 Public School Closures Proposed During 2026-27 School Year
- WV’s Economy After First Quarter of FY 27: Revenue Growth Lagging Inflation, Job Losses, and New Costs on the Horizon
- State of Working West Virginia 2026: A Health Care-driven Economy
- A Quick Guide to SNAP Eligibility and Benefits
- What We're Reading
- Public Schools State of Play Webinar Recording
- Health Care Affordability Survey
- Medicaid Work Requirement Journey Project
- Support Our Work and Donate Today!

Read the full newsletter:

Public schools are at the heart of West Virginia communities. In addition to educating the majority of children in our state, public schools provide essential meals, health services, extracurricular activities, college and career preparation, and technical and vocational training. Public schools al...

10/15/2026

Health care shouldn’t leave you wondering how you’re going to pay the bill.

Maybe you’ve received a hospital bill you didn’t anticipate. Maybe you’ve been charged a separate facility fee at a doctor’s office. Maybe you've gotten an unexpectedly high bill from a provider you thought was in-network, or maybe you’re still paying off medical debt from care you needed months or years ago.

We want to hear what you’ve experienced.

We’re asking West Virginians to take a few minutes to share how high or unexpected health care costs have affected you, your family, or your community.

Your story can help us show lawmakers what people across the Mountain State are experiencing and why we need a health care system that puts people before profits.

You can take the survey here: https://bit.ly/highcarecosts

10/15/2026

ICYMI: "Individual states will now have to pay 75% of the program's operational costs, resulting in a decline in enrollment of over 5 million people from July 2025 to June 2026, according to the Center for Budget and Priorities' SNAP tracker and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"West Virginia's SNAP enrollment dropped from 270,722 in July 2025 to 250,742 in June 2026, a 7.38% reduction."

https://www.dominionpost.com/2026/10/02/tapping-into-snap-benefit-changes/?fbclid=IwY2xjawU8dT5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mAXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR4YY-oz02hPP3rraat2JpQRKZQg8MCSsKUWZeHGrrvWmEr3dRNPkQR9Ta6kEQ_aem_Wmgq0iKbUvmAwgVCnO80ww

MORGANTOWN – Starting Thursday, thousands of West Virginians faced impacts on their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on June 4, 2025. Under Section 10106 of the bill, the federal government’s share of annual SNAP admi...

10/15/2026

"The state’s decades-old, seven-step school funding formula has been linked to dozens of school closures since it ties funding to student head count. West Virginia’s overall population — and student population — is declining. An additional 5,000 students have left the public school system since last October.

"School budgets have been further strained by the growing need of special education students in the state. The current funding formula largely doesn’t account for special education expenses.

"On Tuesday, State Schools Superintendent Michele Blatt said the department now has a working document shared with Gov. Patrick Morrisey and legislative leadership that would restructure the school funding formula to address declining enrollment along with needs in special education, high poverty areas, rural schools and more."

The state school board unveiled a robust school funding formula overhaul that they hope lawmakers will consider.