Hurricane City Hall (Courtesy photo).
By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
Since April 2010 the City of Hurricane has been pocketing money made off of two recycling bins originally meant for scholarships.
The two bins were paid for by grants from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. Revenue from the bins – where people can drop off newspaper, aluminum [...]

By Frank Keegan
frank.keegan@franklincenterhq.org
So much for “conservative” Republicans stepping up to solve our state and local government pension crisis, at least in New Jersey when it comes to their cronies. They fall prey to the same “moral hazard” that got us into this mess.
According to New Jersey Watchdog reporter Mark Lagerkvist, the state failed to investigate [...]

By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog
According to the most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for Fiscal Year 2010, the unfunded liability in West Virginia’s Teachers’ Retirement Fund (TRS) grew by nearly $1 billion dollars between FY2010 and FY2009.
The TRS saw a $339,291,000 increase in its acruarial accrued liability, from $8.2 billion in FY2009 to $8.6 billion [...]

By Frank Keegan
frank.keegan@franklincenterhq.org
It’s not how many. It’s which. That is the great unknown chilling municipal bond markets. Felonious accounting practices by state and local governments make it impossible for investors to determine the one factor that makes munis attractive: Bonds are supposed to be a sure thing.
A sure thing they are not anymore. They are [...]

By Frank Keegan
frank.keegan@franklincenterhq.org
Picture 10 catastrophes the magnitude of Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant failures. Now picture millions of Americans who thought their states had set tax money aside to help them recover only to find out politicians looted the funds instead.
That’s where America stands right now when it comes to state catastrophe funds, [...]

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With West Virginia’s long-term unfunded liability for retiree health care sitting at $8 billion, lawmakers are trying to find a way to give incentives to workers to keep them work past their eligible retirement dates.
In a meeting of the West Virginia Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Pensions and Retirement, lawmakers listened to a [...]

An effort to repeal the 1099 provisions included in the healthcare reform bill passed earlier this year failed this evening in the U.S. Senate.
The New York Times is reporting that the Democratic plan to eliminate the 1099 reporting requirement for businesses failed 44 to 53, while a Republican plan that made other cuts to [...]

Watch as Steven Greenhut, Editor in Chief of our sister website CalWatchdog.com, is interviewed by Reason.tv‘s Ted Balaker about his new book, “Plunder! How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation.”

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Now Playing at Reason.tv: Steven Greenhut on Public Employee Paychecks, Perks, and Plunder (reason.com)
Can States [...]

Don’t have time to write. My flight was delayed in Chicago, making me miss my connection in Louisville. Here is why: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/If-you-were-waiting-at-OHare—-blame-Patrick-Leahy-96281548.html
UPDATE (1:07 p.m.): Landed at Reagan International Airport in Washington DC at 12 p.m., got a bite to eat, and here I am. I wrote about the full account of my trip yesterday at [...]

If you head to the Kanawha County Solid Waste Authority to pick up some of its popular pulverized glass “mulch,” you’ll need to bring your own bucket from now on.
Until recently, the Solid Waste Authority was providing five-gallon plastic containers to anyone who wanted pulverized glass for their garden or driveway. But a recent expose [...]