CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia legislators and other leaders got a taste of what year two of the Morrisey administration could look like when the governor gave his State of the State address Wednesday evening.
Garnering a lot of attention over the last couple of weeks has been Morrisey’s desire to further cut the state income tax. In his speech, Morrisey said he wants the legislature to pass a 10 percent income tax cut.
“The tax cut is welcome news across West Virginia,” said Sen. Brian Helton, R-Fayette. “We need to take more money and put it back into the pockets of our small business owners and our citizens. When we do that, we’ve seen across America, states prosper when we give those tax dollars back to the taxpayers. The government doesn’t need any more of those dollars.”
Morrisey’s proposed increase is on top of the tax cut system that was implemented during the Justice administration that relies on economic indicators to trigger steps down.
Senate Finance Chair Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, says he and other lawmakers are ready to have the tough conversations.
“We’re going to look at the budget,” Barrett said. “As the finance committee in both the Senate and the House, our job over the next several weeks is really to bring in all state agencies, go through their budget requests, ask them the tough questions, vet the requests that they’ve asked and see if there is money to be saved to afford tax cuts. We’re going to do that. We’re going to do the hard work over the next several weeks.”
Morrisey is also adamant about lawmakers passing a three percent raise for all state workers during the 60-day session, which began Wednesday.
“Anytime we can do a pay raise for state employees, it’s a good thing for the state of West Virginia,” Barrett said. “It’s certainly something we will look at to see if the three percent is the right number and see if an across the board pay raise is the right way to handle it.”
Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, who serves as chairman of the House Health and Human Resources Committee, says with the current climate, a three percent raise is likely the bare minimum of what is needed.
“I’m intrigued to see the numbers and I’m hoping we go a little higher than that to be honest with you, but we haven’t seen the budget yet,” he said. “We know inflation has gotten out of control and three percent doesn’t fix it. We’ve got PEIA costs that have increased three percent as well, so we want to make sure that we’re properly given those pay raises. I’m proud that we’ve done that in the past, but we need to keep moving forward with that as well.”
PEIA has been a sensitive subject for some time now. In 2024, the PEIA Finance Board approved premium increases of 14% for the state fund or 16% in plans for local governments with retirees taking on a 12% premium increase. This year, the board approved a three percent increase for monthly premiums and a $200 monthly spousal surcharge increase. Those changes go into effect on July 1.
In the address, Morrisey said the legislature needs to work with him on real, long-term reforms.
“Proof is in the details of what that’s going to be,” said Education West Virginia co-president Dale Lee. “There are some ways that we can stabilize PEIA and it’s going to be interesting for us to work together to see how we can come up with that stabilization.”
Another key point in Morrisey’s speech was improving the state’s workforce participation as more companies move to West Virginia.
“We find that workforce participation and the ability for someone to have a job and provide for themselves and provide from their families is the best way to improve outcomes for individuals and economies. It’s the best way to raise the level and standard of families,” said Del. Jonathan Pinson, R-Mason.
“Providing a high-paying job and that self-worth is absolutely invaluable. So, the fact that the governor is willing to tackle it, we’re all behind him,” he continued.
Del. J.B. Akers, R-Kanawha, says he has faith that West Virginians will pounce on some of the new opportunities.
“I’m not going to pretend like it’s not an issue at all, but I believe if we give the people who live in this state the opportunity for a good paying job, they’re going to go out there and take it and earn it,” Akers said.
As part of the solution to a less than ideal workforce participation, Morrisey said he would ask the legislature to increase funding for the state’s higher education institutions, which include technical schools.
“That’s huge. I appreciated talking about technical training,” House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, said. “The faster we can get people in our work force is going to bode well for everybody.”
WVU President Michael T. Benson says West Virginia has skilled residents, but they need to commit to something past a high school diploma.
“If you look at our outcomes, we’ve got to do better,” he said. “We have a lot of kids that graduate from high school, but the participation rate after high school is very low. It doesn’t matter if it’s a trade, a skill, a diploma, a certificate, a two-year degree, a four-year degree. Do something.”
“He (Morrisey) spoke about trades. He spoke about construction jobs. Many young people in our state are really good with their hands. If they can find their trade and become master electricians, master plumbers, that’s going to help our economy,” Benson said.
While many Republican lawmakers had plenty of good things to say about Morrisey’s address, Democratic legislators wanted to hear more.
“I wanted to hear some real solutions for the problems that are facing everyday West Virginians,” said Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio. “Our utility rates are skyrocketing, our young people are leaving at the highest rate in the country, and our workforce rate is the worst participation rate in the country. Yet, I didn’t hear any real policy solutions whatsoever when it came to those problems.”
Like Fluharty, Hornbuckle says plans needed to be laid out and a few big topics were not addressed.
“I did not hear an actual plan to give West Virginians relief on their utility bills. I did not hear anything speaking to childcare, nor housing issues,” Hornbuckle said. “There’s a little bit to chew on there. We are far away from where we really need to go to push people forward in this state.”