By Charles Young, WV News
ROANOKE, W.Va. (WV News) — State lawmakers were advised to be wary of some upcoming base-building budget items during interim committee meetings Monday morning.
Dr. Peter Shirley, deputy secretary of the state Department of Revenue, who addressed a meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Finance, said the cost of the Public Employees Insurance Agency and the Hope Scholarship Program are expected to significantly increase in the years ahead.
“PEIA is obviously something that there is a lot of discussions regarding. A lot of work is being done to try and think about the long-term future of how we stabilize PEIA,” Shirley said. “$49 million is the estimated additional base-build for fiscal year 2027 for the state plan; these are the employer premiums only. And an additional $56 million for FY ’28.”
