West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey
CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Democratic Party is criticizing Gov. Patrick Morrisey for refusing to release a state Department of Revenue report analyzing the impact of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” on state finances.
But a spokesman for the governor says the Democrats’ actions are another political stunt.
Last week, Democrats said West Virginia is “uniquely vulnerable to deep federal spending cuts” because about 50 percent of the state’s operating budget comes from federal funds. The party says the spending cuts in the bill threaten health care, food assistance and core services.
“State officials acknowledge the analysis exists, but have refused to make it public, invoking an internal-documents exemption in state law — even though the state Supreme Court has made clear that agencies may release such information to the public,” Democrats said in a press release. “Estimates from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy show West Virginia could be forced to spend an additional $7.5 million to administer SNAP, while a freeze on healthcare provider tax increases could cost the state at least $40 million for Medicaid, with the Kaiser Family Foundation warning the state stands to lose billions in federal Medicaid funding over time.”
WV Legislature photo
West Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin elaborated.
“Your tax dollars paid for the study, but Governor Morrisey doesn’t want you to see what you paid for,” he said. “If the analysis showed that Trump’s bill helped West Virginia, you can bet Governor Morrisey would have released it.
“But instead of transparency — which Governor Morrisey and President Trump have both repeatedly promised — we get excuses and obfuscation. Just as the Epstein files have been redacted, the results of this study are likewise hidden. When it comes to transparency, Republicans are all talk.”
But Lars Dalseide, Morrisey’s communications director, dismissed the Democrats’ criticism.
“Everyone knows that the governor releases his budget on January 14th,” Dalseide told The West Virginia Record. “This latest political stunt is nothing more than a desperate attempt by a collection of 'Never-Trumpers' to get a sneak peek at the numbers being released that day because they have no substantive plan of their own to address the affordability issues facing our state.
“We are working with President Trump to lift up our standard of living and improve our economy, and we won’t let these radical leftists impact that.”
Pushkin also slammed state Republicans who he says have weakened independent oversight in state government, saying those changes paved the way for this kind of secrecy.
“Democrats warned what would happen when Republicans passed legislation that basically abolishes the independence of the Legislative Auditor’s office and turned the watchdog office into a lapdog,” Pushkin said, referencing the 2024 legislative action moving control of the auditing office under the authority of the House Speaker and Senate President rather than preserving its independent role.
“West Virginians deserve honesty and accountability from their government. Not only did Republicans strip independence from the very offices meant to hold the government accountable, now Governor Morrisey is hiding a study that shows just how hard his allies in Washington want to hit our state. Transparency isn’t optional — it’s fundamental to a functioning democracy.”
Pushkin and the Democrats called on Morrisey to release the full Department of Revenue analysis “so the people of West Virginia can see the facts — and understand the real impact of reckless federal spending cuts on their families, communities, and state economy.”
