In email to West Virginia House members, speaker says ‘no idea’ where Gov. Morrisey got deficit figure
By Charles Young, The Exponent Telegram
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — The speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates and Gov. Patrick Morrisey aren’t on the same page about whether the state is facing a budget crisis.
Following a press conference last week in which Morrisey announced the discovery of a $400 million budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2026, Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, sent an email to House members commenting on the governor’s findings.
“Please know that as of now, we have no idea how he or his team arrived at that figure, and our House Finance staff and our own budget team has no information on how the governor’s team arrived at their projection,” Hanshaw wrote. “As of last month, the executive branch reports to us showed a very different picture, so we need to understand what facts gave the new administration their substantially altered view of the State’s financial condition.”