By Steven Allen Adams for The Intelligencer
CHARLESTON — It is official: West Virginia has a balanced general revenue budget for fiscal year 2026 beginning in July, though the budget approved by Gov. Patrick Morrisey included several vetoes of individual line items to create more of an unappropriated balance to address future issues.
In a press release late Thursday night, Morrisey announced that he signed House Bill 2026, the vehicle for next fiscal year’s general revenue budget.
Morrisey presented his version of the budget bill to lawmakers on the first day of the 60-day annual legislative session on Feb. 12, nearly one month after he and Department of Revenue officials estimated that a $397 million hole existed in the fiscal year 2026 budget.
But by April 11, the House of Delegates and state Senate came to a compromise on the budget. The compromise set the fiscal year 2026 general revenue budget at $5.318 billion, slightly lower than the adjusted $5.322 billion general revenue estimate for fiscal year 2026 presented on behalf of Morrisey and the $5.321 billion approved by the Senate Wednesday.
