By james art 
Charleston, W.VA. (WCHS) – The governor of the West Virginia and the members of the main house make different conclusions, as some legislators remain unconvincing that the state is facing a major budget shortage.
Governor Patrick Morrisi predicts nearly $ 400 million in budget deficit during his first government address. The message receives a cool answer to the house, even after his administration spent the day explaining the problems that the fiscal year is faced with 2026.
The Republican governor predicts the state’s finances to get worse afterwards.
“More than $ 500 million in red for 2027 and over $ 550 to $ 600 million in the red year after that,” he said.
Morrisi is a concerned former governor Jim justice, used lump sums to pay for running costs, but filling the budget with excess money is not a new approach. S
Key members of House, who play the legislative role of the budget, do not seem to be aligned with the evaluations of Morrisi or his plans for the state’s finances.
“I think we’re on a stable basis. We’ll finish the fiscal year with a surplus – obviously not as big as it was in the past – but we’ll finish the year with excess,” House Finance Chari Vernon Criss, R -Wood, “Eywitness News told.
Morrisi said that reducing the personal income tax tax he prefers, he added to the situation, even before trying to deal with large tickets like Medicaid, also prison the insurance agency for public officials.
The administration offers a $ 5.3 billion total budget for 2026 revenue budget.
“We have increased some revenue estimates. We had some targeted, one -off reductions and then we have one -off costs or a fall, mainly from excess funds,” said Western Virginia Revenue Minister Eric Nelson. “This budget does not take a dollar from our rainy day of $ 1.3 billion.”
The latest state budgets have benefited from dollars to relieve Covid, but this money is history.
The governor’s budget plan is reduced by about $ 109 million and does not involve raising teachers’ pay in 2026.