W.Va. Book Festival Announces Featured Authors For 2024
West Virginia’s annual book festival celebrating national and regional authors will come to the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center this October.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsState agencies will experience mid-year budget cuts for the second year in a row as West Virginia tax collections continue to come in below estimates.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced the 2 percent, across-the-board cuts for state agencies in a press release Tuesday.
As of Nov. 2, state tax collections were more than $87 million below estimates for the fiscal year that began in July.
The spending cuts include a more than $11 million reduction to the state’s school aide formula, or the state dollars given to county school systems. The governor is also reducing Medicaid spending by $25 million this year.
To help cut costs, Tomblin will continue a state hiring freeze that’s been in effect since 2013.
The governor is also redirecting more than $25 million away from paying off old workers’ compensation debts to the general revenue fund to make up for declining revenues.
Tomblin said in a statement that enacting the cuts would not be easy, but he must ensure the state budget remains balanced to maintain long-term fiscal stability.