By Amy Purpura | West Virginia Watchdog
Ever since Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland passed laws legalizing slot machines and table gaming, racetrack-casinos in WV worried that this increased competition would attract fewer customers to the state. While this worry has proven accurate, especially for the two racetrack-casinos in the northern panhandle, state regulations from Charleston have [...]

By Amy Purpura | West Virginia Watchdog
On January 16, a little over a month after the tragic Sandy Hook shootings, President Obama and the White House unveiled their proposal for gun control after a month of debates with other policymakers. One of the most controversial measures included in this proposal is a ban on the [...]

By Amy Purpura | West Virginia Watchdog
In the previous article of this series on firearms, one of the biggest myths about gun violence was debunked. Namely, that statistics show more guns do not result in more gun murders. However, the last article did not discuss any of the gun policy in place in the US [...]

By Amy Purpura | West Virginia Watchdog
With much fervor currently erupting in the US over the terrible tragedy committed last month in Connecticut, it’s imperative that citizens and policymakers allow their rationality and reason to guide their thinking on solutions instead of being overtaken by emotion. In this spirit, the WV Watchdog will be publishing [...]

By Amy Purpura | West Virginia Watchdog
On January 2, President Obama  signed off on the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA) in addition to the fiscal cliff legislation. While the latter has received much more widespread coverage in the mainstream media, the NDAA bill of 2013 contains provisions that equally affect all Americans regardless [...]

By Terry Wallace | West Virginia Watchdog
There seems to be nearly universal brouhaha over the lunch program in our schools these days. How could things get so far out of whack over something so simple?
During my student days at Neffs Elementary School, lunches cost fifteen cents and included whole milk, either chocolate or white, from [...]

By Amy Purpura | West Virginia Watchdog
With rising costs of health care, an aging baby boomer generation, and new policy directives under the Affordable Care Act, states have started testing Medicaid reforms that will lessen costs and improve the health of beneficiaries.
In 2007, West Virginia began implementing its own experimental Medicaid redesign known as Mountain Health [...]

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional budget analysts are now estimating that nearly 6 million Americans — most of them in the middle class — will have to pay a tax penalty for not getting health insurance once President Barack Obama’s health care law is fully in place.
That’s 2 million more than a [...]

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signs SB469, providing a funding mechanism for West Virginia’s $5 billion OPEB debt. (Photo/Steven Allen Adams)
By Steven Allen Adams | West Virginia Watchdog
CHARLESTON — With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a bill making West Virginia the first state to deal with its multi-billion dollar retiree health [...]

By Steven Allen Adams | West Virginia Watchdog
CHARLESTON — A bill introduced nearly two weeks ago would close a loophole allowing retired state employees to return to work as contractors while still receiving pension check.
State Sen. Mike Green (D-Raleigh) introduced SB545 on Feb. 08. Green is the only sponsor for the bill, which would close [...]