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Category: Integrity

Inflation Is Affecting Us All. Here’s How Prevailing Wage Can Soften The Sting.
Prices everywhere are increasing. We see it in grocery stores, at the gas pumps and even on our utility bills. A few cents here and a couple percentage points there can add up quickly. In June and July of 2022, prices were up 8.3 percent compared to a year ago, which is the highest rate of increase in 40 years, according to NBC News. Whether it’s a gallon of gas or milk, ... Continue Reading »

Restoring Fairness

Restoring Fairness

Fairness is a core principle for any true-blue West Virginian. Fair pay for a good day’s work, a fair shot at a good job, and fair treatment in the workplace. Fairness is a value we cherish, and for many years a law known as Prevailing Wage ensured fairness for all Mountaineers. Then in 2016, without proper study, our short-sighted legislative leadership repealed prevailing wage, and thousands ... Continue Reading »

The Law Of Unintended Consequences
It’s called the law of unintended consequences. When it comes to government, it refers to unanticipated effects of legislative activity. Economists have long been aware we must heed this law to avoid a domino effect of lousy results from new policies. But, as a Forbes writer once observed, “for just as long, politicians and popular opinion have largely ignored it.” Consider House Bill 2008, which our state Legislature passed into ... Continue Reading »

Congressman David McKinley: “The repeal of prevailing wage rate was based on erroneous studies.”

Transcript

“The repeal of the prevailing wage rate was based on some erroneous studies, I believe. “The idea was sold…we’re going to be able to get five schools for the price of three. That simply hasn’t happened. “People in government make mistakes all the time. The strength is recognizing that after a few years, this didn’t work. We better revisit it and correct it, ... Continue Reading »

Congressman David McKinley: “Out of town contractors don’t benefit this community.”

Transcript

“Out-of-town contractors don’t benefit this community, don’t pay into the local tax base. They go home when their project’s finished. “I want you to imagine work being done by local people depositing money in the local banks. That money stays here. It doesn’t go to Columbus, Houston, Guatemala, “The sooner we can restore prevailing wage rate across West Virginia I think the better ... Continue Reading »

Mountaineers Are Always Free

…or are they?

We all love and appreciate the natural beauty of West Virginia – especially our majestic mountains. We call ourselves the Mountain State. We sing about our West Virginia Hills and our Mountain Mama. We proclaim that Mountaineers Are Always Free. On the flip side, our mountains often present us with challenges. Sometimes getting from here to there can be difficult – especially in bad weather. We may ... Continue Reading »

Are Your Tax Dollars Being Spent Responsibly?

There is a way to be sure

Check your news feed or pick up a newspaper and you’re sure to find a story about some huge federal or state project with price tags so large that you can hardly wrap your mind around the figures.  Other than generalized descriptions of these projects, we find that the media offers us very little information about them. We never really ... Continue Reading »