CHARLESTON, W.Va. – With West Virginia about to lose another congressional seat because of steady population decline, Republican lawmakers are convinced a massive income tax cut is the key to reversing the trend.
But figuring out how to do that without harming the state's most vulnerable or punching a massive hole in the budget has proven complicated.
Although the United States doubled its population over the past seven decades, West Virginia headed in the other direction. Tracking closely with the long-term decline of the coal industry, it is the only state in the nation with fewer residents than in 1950.
Figures from the 2020 U.S. census, expected to be released later this month, are projected to reduce West Virginia's seats in the U.S.