When not working pays more than working

Work makes up a significant part of most people’s lives. Work generates necessary income and hopefully benefits, while also providing an opportunity to be professionally fulfilled. But what if you could make more money not working? That is one of the unintended consequences of the massive federal infusion of money into the economy during the

WV Supreme Court gets it right on right-to-work

This week the West Virginia Supreme Court upheld the state’s right-to-work law. It is sometimes said that the wheels of justice turn slowly. In this case, the pace was glacial. The West Virginia Legislature passed the Workplace Freedom Act in 2016. Labor unions challenged the law and Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Bailey did her

West Virginia gets top grade in COVID-19 response

We know too well the drill in our state.  A survey comes out and West Virginia is ranked near or at the bottom.  Sometimes there’s just one state between West Virginia and last place, which has given rise here to the saying, “Thank God for Mississippi.” So, when our state ranks at the top, it’s

A first step to reopening WV

West Virginia is beginning the first phase of reopening. Governor Jim Justice said on Talkline Monday that the first step is allowing hospitals to resume elective procedures. On March 14, the U.S. Surgeon General advised hospitals to “please consider stopping elective procedures.”  Two weeks later, Governor Justice ordered a halt to elective surgeries. Justice and

The news does NOT always repeat itself

The singer/songwriter John Prine, who died just recently from COVID-19, had a song called “Hello in There” which included the lines, “And all the news just repeats itself, like some forgotten dream that we’ve both seen.” That verse has come to mind often during the past few weeks.  Over my many years in this business

Paycheck Protection Program runs out of money… fast

Well, that didn’t take long. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is already out of money. Congress included $349 billion in the CARES Act to provide largely forgivable loans to small businesses devastated by the pandemic. Businesses rushed to get the loans, as banks struggled to meet the demand while complying with the SBA guidelines. By

Here’s how we restart the country

The Washington Post has obtained a copy of an internal memo of a strategy drafted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for reopening the country. The plan is heavy on warnings—even a cautious, phased approach “will entail a significant risk of resurgence of the virus”—however,

Remembering the “Spanish Flu”

The current COVID-19 epidemic inevitably brings up comparisons to the “Spanish Flu” of 1918, which was a deadly global pandemic. It was called the “Spanish Flu” even though it did not originate in Spain. The source remains a debate, but many point to a surge of flu activity in Kansas in early 1918 that spread

How long will our patience last?

Someone once said, “Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.” The shutdown and social distancing measures put in place as a result of the pandemic are testing our patience, and that test goes well beyond just being bored sitting at home. The economies of West

Our Black Swan Event

Our nature is to deal with today, but also wonder what tomorrow will bring, which means we are already asking how our lives are being changed by the pandemic. You have heard West Virginia COVID-19 Czar Clay Marsh and others refer to the global spread of the virus as a “Black Swan event.” That comes

Pandemic creates budget problems for the state

West Virginia individuals, businesses and institutions are taking a serious financial hit because of the pandemic. The state’s economy has slowed dramatically, hundreds of non-essential businesses have closed, and tens of thousands of people have been laid off. The number of people filing for unemployment continues at a record pace.  WorkForce West Virginia reports nearly

WV moving in the right direction in fight against virus

We are beginning to hear more optimistic predictions from Governor Jim Justice and state health officials about the pandemic’s impact on West Virginia. “I honestly believe within a week from today if we keep trending the way we’re going we’ll see a little better news and a little more hope,” Justice said during an interview

WorkForce WV plays catch-up on mad rush of jobless claims

When you log on to the WorkForce West Virginia website—if you can get on—the first thing you will see in bright red letters is this advisory: “Due to an influx of website traffic in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, WorkForce WV’s systems are experiencing intermittent disruptions and temporary outages.” There’s a good reason for that.

Poll finds Americans are pulling together during pandemic

A national survey finds that while most Americans are worried about the COVID-19 virus, they are willing to make sacrifices during the pandemic for the greater good. Research America questioned 600 U.S. adults between March 26-29 to collect their observations on a variety of issues related to the pandemic.  The poll has a margin of

Virus outbreak enters new phase in WV

West Virginia is entering a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic—community cluster outbreaks. These clusters occur when the rate of positive cases begins to speed up. The first reports of these community clusters came late last week in the eastern panhandle, which prompted Governor Jim Justice to issue an executive order Friday night tightening down

Don’t give up on school yet

West Virginia Legislative leaders have issued a bi-partisan call for Governor Jim Justice to cancel the rest of the public school year. (Read more from Brad McElhinny.) Senate President Mitch Carmichael, Minority Leader Roman Prezioso, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw and House Minority Leader Tim Miley in a letter to Justice said the projected peak of

Politics will have to wait in West Virginia

Governor Jim Justice, after consulting with Secretary of State Mac Warner and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, has decided to postpone West Virginia’s Primary Election from May 12 to June 9. (Read more here from Brad McElhinny.) This is the right call for a variety of reasons. If modeling by the Institute for Health Metrics and

West Virginia’s jobless rate expected to soar

*(Editor’s note: This commentary has been updated with new unemployment figures today.) We will soon see the largest one-month jump in unemployment in West Virginia in the state’s history because of the pandemic. The state’s jobless rate has been on a steady decline for months and has settled in at around five percent. Every month

Justice: “Be the adult in the room.”

West Virginia has a message to people fleeing parts of the country where the pandemic is the worst: Don’t come here, and if you do, you must self-quarantine. Governor Justice has issued an executive order putting limitations on travel into West Virginia for the foreseeable future as another step to try to keep the pandemic

Battling the virus in WV—stay the course

We now have our first death in West Virginia from COVID-19, an 88-year-old Marion County woman. That is sad, and tragically there will be more as a result of the pandemic. However, West Virginia still has an opportunity to bend the curve. The infection rate is running at just four percent (percent of positive results of those