Gov. Patrick Morrisey updates the press on the state budget shortfalls during a briefing on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at the Capitol in Charleston, W.Va. (West Virginia Office of the Gov. Patrick Morrisey | Courtesy photo)
It was disappointing to hear Gov. Patrick Morrisey say last week that he supported President Donald Trump’s freeze on federal funding.
West Virginia is heavily dependent on federal funding — in 2022, more than 45% of the state’s total revenue came from federal grants, according to an analysis from Pew Charitable Trusts.
In fiscal year 2023, West Virginia received $7.2 billion in federal grants, 40% of which was for non-Medicaid programs. Those grants are for the highway performance program, surface transportation funding, abandoned mines and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, according to reporting from Ogden’s Steven Allen Adams.
Pew also found that about 40% of West Virginia’s revenue comes from taxes, relying most heavily on personal income taxes — which former Gov. Jim Justice cut multiple times and Morrisey wants to continue to cut.
And let’s not forget the bombshell Morrisey dropped during his first week in office — that the state is expected to have a $400 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2026.
West Virginia can’t afford to lose federal funding.
There’s no denying that West Virginia is a poor state. Only eight other states receive more federal funding than the Mountain State.
When the freeze was announced, it was absolute chaos. The memo released last Monday wasn’t clear, and two more memos were released the next day to clarify which programs would be affected.
Medicaid portals were temporarily down in all 50 states, even though Medicaid was not supposed to be affected by the freeze.
Organizations had no idea if they would receive funding that had already been promised to them. Some worried if they would still have jobs.
The freeze was immediately challenged in court and is now on ice itself.
No thanks to Morrisey who didn’t ask Attorney General John McCuskey to join lawsuits brought by other attorneys general.
Instead, when asked about the freeze last Tuesday — less than 24 hours after it was announced and a few hours before it was originally supposed to go into effect — Morrisey said no guidance had come from the federal government regarding the pause and that his administration didn’t have a projection on how the freeze would affect West Virginia.
And yet, without knowing that, he still stood behind Trump’s hasty decision.
“I do think what President Trump is trying to do generally is correct,” Morrisey said. “The federal government — and quite frankly the [West Virginia] state government — has operated way beyond its means. … I’m going to work just like President Trump to tackle these issues and be transparent.”
Even if Morrisey believed it’s a good idea for the Trump administration to review government spending, pausing it completely with so little notice was not the way to handle it. Morrisey even said that he had started receiving calls that morning from constituents and agencies concerned about the effects of the freeze.
West Virginians were worried, and not receiving any information to ease that worry. Even the restraining order placed on the funding freeze could just be temporary relief.
It’s not healthy to agree with every move the president makes. No one is perfect. No one makes the right decision every time. If the governor is scared to speak out against the president, how can he stand up for West Virginians?
Morrisey had no problem dismissing health experts who say the state shouldn’t allow religious exemptions for vaccines, which will result in more sick West Virginians. He’s had no problem questioning environmental experts when it comes to filing lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency, putting business over the environment, which again will hurt West Virginians’ health. If you can push back on them, you can push back against the “business expert” in the oval office.
Trump doesn’t know anything about West Virginia other than he’s popular here. He doesn’t understand the struggles people in poverty face. When he doesn’t pay his bills, it’s because he doesn’t want to, not because he can’t afford to.
Remember governor, Trump didn’t vote for you. But 459,300 West Virginians did, and now you must answer to all 1.7 million of us. Stand up for those who live here and will suffer from Trump’s decisions.
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