Is Gov. Morrisey's $400M budget shortfall really a thing?

The West Virginia Weakly Reader for Saturday, January 25, 2025

Jan 25, 2025

I’m over here at the Weakly’s outpost in Martinsburg scratching my head over whether state government is really facing a budget crisis.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey says he inherited a $400 million shortfall for FY 2026. I have no reason to doubt him, but his announcement last week seems to have come as a surprise to legislative leaders, who should know. And Morrisey’s immediate predecessor, Sen. Jim Justice, called Morrisey’s projected deficit “almost crazy talk.”

Time will tell.

In the meantime, thanks for kicking back with the West Virginia Weakly Reader.

We’ll get things started with confusion over the state budget as the West Virginia Legislature heads into its regular session beginning Wednesday, February 12.

The West Virginia Weakly Reader (sources cited in the footnotes)

😕 State leaders are giving mixed signals over whether the state is facing a budget crisis. House Speaker Roger Hanshaw sent an email to House members this week essentially saying the deficit Morrisey announced was news to him and going on to say “we need to understand what facts gave the new administration their substantially altered view of the State’s financial condition.”1 And Sen. Justice told Charleston’s WCHS-TV that “nobody can figure out where these numbers could come from. I guess you can project anything you want to project.”2 Morrisey cites what he says are “structural” problems with the budget, including rising educational costs and a heavy reliance on one-shot revenue sources. He said the picture would become clearer when he presents the state budget to lawmakers when the legislative session begins.

⚠️ The West Virginia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is warning the Morrisey administration that it’s setting itself up for legal trouble over the governor’s executive order on diversity, equity and inclusion. The ACLU of West Virginia is calling on Gov. Morrisey to rescind the order, saying in a press release issued this week, that it’s so broad it could violate the free speech rights of college professors and others.3 This week, Marshall University scrubbed DEI-related pages from its website. A university spokesperson said the references to DEI programs would remain unpublished as school officials review executive orders from the governor.4

🍿 I’m going to need to pop some popcorn while the the fight over Berkeley County’s disputed 91st delegate district plays out. Gov. Morrisey made the latest move. Late Thursday, he named Republican Ian Masters to fill out the term of Joseph de Soto, who is under House arrest for making terroristic threats against fellow GOP House members.5 Masters is a Gerrardstown attorney who is president of the gun rights group West Virginia Citizen’s Defense League. Earlier this week, attorneys for House Speaker Roger Hanshaw (R-Clay) sought to delay a court fight over the seat. Hanshaw’s attorneys filed court papers seeking to delay the case until May 12, saying state law keeps lawmakers from participating in legal actions during a legislative session.6 Democrats take issue with how House Republicans vacated the seat and they argue that it should be Democratic, since de Soto switched parties.7 They’ve asked the state Supreme Court to settle the matter.

😟 The Public Employees Insurance Agency could be heading into the regular legislative session without a permanent leader. Brian Cunningham has stepped down as PEIA director after wrapping up a series of public hearings that ended with the PEIA Finance Board approving costs increases for the coming year.8 PEIA is a perennial funding challenge for lawmakers. Gov. Morrisey cited PEIA as a factor driving his $400 million deficit projection.

🤔 West Virginia’s best known January 6 rioter, Derrick Evans, appeared to be up into the wee hours of Tuesday morning after he was among the 1,500 people who were pardoned by President Trump on the first day of his second term. In a post on X that has a time stamp of 3:05 a.m., Evans used a gif to send what he said was “a message for the media and left wing extremists who spent the last four years calling me an insurrectionist.”9 Evans was briefly a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing a Wayne County district. He stepped down after the riot, pleaded guilty to a federal felony and served three months in prison for his role in the attack. He told the Huntington Herald Dispatch in an email that he’s “happy to have all my rights restored.”10

🙏 Former Delegate Michael Angelucci died this week. A cause is not clear, but his fellow Marion County legislator, state Senator Joey Garcia, told Morgantown’s WAJR radio that his death was sudden.11

⚖️ A new settlement agreement has been reached with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family over the opioid crisis. According to state Attorney General J.B. McCuskey, West Virginia and 13 other states have agreed to a $7.4 billion settlement, with $6.5 billion to be paid by the Sacklers themselves over 15 years. The agreement still must be approved by a federal appeals court in New York.12

😮 The Charleston Gazette-Mail is reporting on a long history of health and safety violations at the Barbour County coal mine where a fire broke out last week. The newspaper says the Leer South Mine has been cited more than 1,100 times by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration since the start of 2022.13

😷 Health officials in southern West Virginia are warning about a small outbreak of the illness commonly known as Whooping Cough. The Marshall Health Network says four cases have been confirmed at Hurricane High School in Putnam County with additional cases in Cabell County and in Lawrence County, Ohio.14 Among the executive orders that Gov. Morrisey signed shortly after taking office is one that allows for a religious exemption to school vaccinations.15

🏈 The Sun Belt Conference is fining Marshall University for backing out of the Independence Bowl. The game against Army was to be played in Shreveport, Louisiana on Dec. 28, but MU withdrew because many Marshall players had entered the transfer portal. Marshall says its decision was in the best interests of the remaining players and that it has accepted the conference’s decision to levy a $100,000 fine.16

🍽️ Have you eaten at Charleston’s Ristorante Abruzzi? Thinking of roping Dave into a road trip. Chef Chase Collier has been named as a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef in the Southeast. If you’ve been there, let us know if it’s worth it in the comments.17 Also, Charleston native William Dissen has been shortlisted in the “Outstanding Chef” category. Dissen is the head chef at The Market Place in Asheville, North Carolina.

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