Governor Morrisey started the 2026 legislative session with a bait-and-switch.
During his State of the State address last Wednesday night, he proposed cutting income taxes by ten percent. His language to lawmakers and the public was specific:
“I am asking the legislature to pass a ten percent income tax cut. I see a lot of claps. We’re going to work to get that number up a little bit, right? West Virginia, we need tax relief now. As you will see in the budget, I’m going to ask the House and the Senate… we can afford this tax cut—it’s going to require work this year and for many years in the future—but we have to provide that tax relief.”
News agencies across the state, including MetroNews, reported it. “Gov. Patrick Morrisey proposed income tax cuts of 10% and pay raises for public employees averaging 3 percent,” wrote our Brad McElhinny. Steven Allan Adams of Ogden Newspapers wrote, “Morrisey proposed a 10% personal income tax cut, though last week he called for an income tax cut of between 5% and 10%.”
Morrisey’s words and the extensive news coverage meant that the governor won the day. But reality set in the following day when lawmakers got their first look at Morrisey’s proposed budget for FY 2027 which begins July 1. The spending plan included only a five percent cut.
When representatives of Morrisey’s budget office appeared before lawmakers they were asked to explain the discrepancy. The ten percent number, they said, was “aspirational” and could be accomplished if legislators were willing to work with the governor to find the money.
Since Morrisey’s proposed budget called for a five percent tax reduction, why didn’t he just say that in the speech? Why dump his desire for additional tax cuts on the legislature without presenting the spending cuts or tax increases elsewhere in the budget to pay for them?
The dodge did not sit well with many legislators, and it clearly did not get the governor off to a good start with lawmakers to begin the session.
Long-time Delegate Marty Gearheart (R, Mercer) said during a finance committee meeting Monday, “Typically somebody doesn’t make a bold request for that large of a cut without having some kind of an idea how they’re going to accommodate for the revenue,” he said.
Delegate John Williams (D, Monongalia) asked, “What was the thought process in going with 10% on Wednesday, and then coming back here 12 hours later and saying 5%? I felt as if it was a disingenuous representation. It was like a bad dating profile.”
Good points, and this is even before legislators consider whether the state can afford more tax reducitons. Morrisey’s proposed budget contemplates spending $267 million in carryover from the previous fiscal year and the projected surplus this fiscal year of $320 million. In other words, Morrisey’s financial plan for next fiscal year uses every dime.
Yes, that is by definition a balanced budget. However, it fails to account for the future. Morrisey’s own six-year budget forecast projects a $204 million shortfall in fiscal year 2028 and even larger deficits in the three subsequent years. Expanding costs for the Hope Scholarship program that pays for private education and decreases in federal allocations mean the state could be facing serious budget problems in the near term.
Kelly Allen of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy said the state cannot afford additional tax cuts now. “If this budget was proposed by his predecessor, Governor Morrisey would have likely deemed it fiscally irresponsible, as it sets up tax cuts and increased spending that would weaken the state’s financial footing in upcoming years.”
West Virginia already has in place a mechanism for lowering the state’s income taxes when certain revenue benchmarks are met. The law has provided for cuts of around 27 percent in marginal rates in just a few years, so why is Morrisey trying to tack another cut on top of that?
The governor wants to continue enhancing his conservative bona fides by adding “tax cutter” to his resume. However, the odds of him succeeding in this session were reduced when he baited lawmakers and the public with a ten percent tax cut last Wednesday night, while knowing full well that his proposed budget was something quite different.