Gov. Patrick Morrisey gave his first State of the State address at the state Capitol in Charleston, W.Va. on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography)
Gov. Patrick Morrisey took the podium in the West Virginia House of Delegates on Wednesday, delivering a State of the State address unlike any seen in the chamber in the last eight years.
There were no props, no dogs and no mention of “Toby and Edith.” The governor’s points were concise and the speech wrapped up in under an hour.
For the most part, Morrisey’s address echoed and expanded on priorities already shared by him during his first four weeks in office. He celebrated several of those initiatives, including an executive order to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies across the state, a crackdown on unauthorized immigration, a commitment to energy dependency and calling on the Legislature to tie gender to biological sex in state code.
“West Virginia will lead with common sense,” Morrisey said.
Though not physically in the room, President Donald Trump’s presence was widely felt on Wednesday as Morrisey mentioned him or his administration at least eight times, often to loud applause from the Trump-friendly Legislature in attendance.
Also impossible to ignore during the address were the potential ramifications of a looming $400 million budget deficit, which Morrisey said he “inherited” from former Gov. Jim Justice. That assertion, however, has been questioned by legislative leaders, who say they believe the state is fiscally healthy.
Questions on the budget could impact nearly every piece of legislation requiring funding that will be considered by lawmakers this session. That includes several key policy priorities outlined by Morrisey in Wednesday’s address that impact the everyday lives of West Virginia families.
Morrisey set several priorities for the state in his speech, including:
Dealing with the multi-million deficit
Morrisey said he wants to see the state focus on building up and retaining its workforce, but also its industries, which he believes will bring more revenue to the state and offset previous and future tax cuts.
He pledged the creation of a new “dynamic jobs portal” to help recruit talent within the state government. And on the economy, the governor restated previously shared priorities: slashing bureaucratic “red tape,” offering universal licensing reciprocity and expediting the permitting process for certain industries which, he said, will make West Virginia a more attractive state for business.
But first, he and lawmakers will have to grapple with the projected budget hole.
While lawmakers have cast doubt over the accuracy of the projected $400 million deficit, Morrisey said they weren’t “debatable numbers.” He estimated the deficit could grow up to $600 million annually after 2027 if not addressed.
“It was papered over with one-time money that’s now running out,” he said.
The state Democratic Party, in a statement ahead of the speech, called on Morrisey to better explain any potential financial crisis.
“West Virginians are tired of being lied to. If there is a deficit then our ask of Gov. Morrisey is to explain to us why he doesn’t believe Sen. Jim Justice’s budget analysis and why he doesn’t trust the work of the Republican majority,” said House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, adding they want to work with him on the budget while protecting education funding and vital programs for West Virginia residents.
Morrisey said during his address that his proposed budget — dubbed the “Mountain State Comeback Budget” — will be a “balanced budget which represents a down payment on a multi-year plan to solve our state’s financial challenges.”
“Our budget will not propose new ongoing programs without new ongoing revenue,” he added. “We plan on over 2% of general revenue budget reductions and many other changes to bring our budget to balance and to protect taxpayers as we go after waste, abuse and overspending in the system.”
Morrisey has also called on agencies to review spending and has already consolidated three state departments. He said he’ll push to eliminate unnecessary boards and commissions.
In response to Morrisey’s remarks on the budget, Senate Finance Chair Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, said he was optimistic about the governor’s plan.
“I think that his budget structure is a little different than what we’ve seen in the past. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with that,” Barrett said. “I’m looking forward to working with him and his team as we put the budget together over the next 60 days.”
Members of the Senate and House finance committees will get their first crack at the budget Thursday morning, where specific details about Morrisey’s proposed spending will emerge. Budget details were scant in his State of the State remarks.
Banning cellphones in school, giving teachers a raise
Spillover from budget woes could impact education initiatives, including Morrisey’s call for teacher pay raises as West Virginia’s public school teachers are the least paid in the nation.
Morrisey has been all in on school choice, a GOP agenda point focused on giving parents autonomy to choose their child’s education. He praised the Hope Scholarship, the state’s education savings account, for its role in helping West Virginians access private education. The Hope Scholarship provides roughly $4,400 per student in taxpayer money to families to use for private school, homeschooling and more.
But Morrisey’s speech largely focused on an agenda for helping West Virginia’s struggling public schools.
Pandemic-spurred learning loss coupled with myriad of struggles facing West Virginia students (poverty, hunger, high child abuse rates, many children being raised by grandparents and more) have been attributed to low classroom achievement. In 2024, West Virginia students ranked 49th eighth grade math and 48th in fourth grade reading.
“While we did see improvement in a few areas — lots of work remains,” Morrisey said.
Dozens of schools are closing, in part, due to families exiting public schools for the Hope Scholarship, and school funding is partly tied to student headcount. Morrisey called on the Legislature “to work with me to open up the antiquated school aid formula” to address financial needs for families and teachers.
“This is another area where we should collaborate with the Trump Administration,” he continued. “West Virginia needs more flexibility from the federal government to administer its school aid monies and help our kids excel in math, science, reading and other subjects.”
Additionally, he called on the Legislature to allow schools to ban cell phones in the classroom and help teachers maintain control of their classrooms. Elementary teachers have already asked lawmakers for help dealing with violent and disruptive students, saying they need behavioral interventions and more alternative classroom settings, which will cost money.
He pledged “strategic investment” through the creation of the West Virginia “POWER” (Powering Our Workforce through Energy and Revolutionary) Tech Center. According to Morrisey, the center will be a collaboration between several higher education institutions that will “help West Virginia become the most innovative, aggressive supplier of energy to the growing technology industry.” No other details for the project, however, were provided in Wednesday’s address.
The governor’s speech did not mention the state’s troubled foster care system as the state is embroiled in a massive and expensive class-action lawsuit brought by foster children about alleged mistreatment while in state care. West Virginia has the highest rate of children coming into foster care, and the rate of CPS workers and foster homes hasn’t kept up the influx of children.
Democrats called on Morrisey to address the growing foster care crisis, saying past Republican budgets have consistently underfunded critical services.
“The foster care crisis in West Virginia is not just a statistic — it’s real children suffering because of government inaction. If Gov. Morrisey truly cares about children, he will show us a plan to fund and fix our broken system instead of ignoring the problem,” said Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha.
Taking aim at complex health regulations, saying it’s ‘big government activism’
Morrisey’s speech was largely light on health care priorities overall, but the governor did make one major policy announcement he would like to see happen: the repeal of certificate of need, a law that’s been on West Virginia’s books since 1977. It will help rural parts of the state that need health care options, he said.
“It will fast track new private practices, urgent care, and other facilities,” he said.
Certificate of need is a regulatory process, overseen by the West Virginia Health Care Authority, that requires entities looking to create or expand health care services to receive a legal document proving those new services fit an unmet need in the area.
Through the Health Care Authority, those interested in obtaining a certificate of need receive technical assistance before applying to see what need they are meeting. Services are approved through a needs methodology and different services — such as hospice care, ambulatory centers, clinics, private practices and specialty services — have different methodologies.
Morrisey said the CON process is “big government activism at its worst” and, through repealing it, the state would “move toward the free market.”
Bills to eliminate CON or certain parts of it have been introduced in the Legislature for nearly a decade. In 2022, a bill calling for the total repeal of CON hit a committee for the first time — the House Health Committee — where it was voted down by lawmakers.
More than 75% of patients in West Virginia are government payers, meaning their health insurance comes from the Public Employees Insurance Agency, Medicare or Medicaid. Critics of certificate of need repeal have said that if the laws are removed, there would be no guarantee facilities that come into the state would cater to these patients, as those programs reimburse less for services than private insurers.
The governor also called on lawmakers to work with him on long and short term solutions for PEIA, which he said is a driver of the state’s budgetary problems. Morrisey’s budget includes a $45 million increase for PEIA “so that the state can meet its legal commitment,” he said. PEIA this year will raise rates for employees by 12 to 16% along with employee out-of-pocket costs as it grapples with increasing health care costs and other factors.
Lori Kersey contributed to this story.
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