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CHARLESTON W.Va. (WVDN) — From coal to education to deregulation to drugs, Gov. Patrick Morrisey covered a lot of ground as he laid out his legislative agenda to a packed House chamber during his State of the State address on Wednesday night.
Here are five things you need to know about what Morrisey hopes to see this year:
Use West Virginia’s coal to fuel a “Mountain State comeback”
Selling a vision where children will grow up to live and work in West Virginia, Morrisey described a future economy powered by supercomputers, data centers and cryptocurrency.
And like the heyday of steel in the 50s, Morrisey said this new economy will rely on electricity, and that electricity will come from West Virginia coal and natural gas.
In many ways, a large component of all his plans — whether it was education, cutting business regulations, speeding up permit processing and cutting taxes — is to continue the tradition of the same extractive industries that have left streams polluted, men dying in their 50s and towns with soot in their attics.
“West Virginia has power, and by God, we are going to use it,” Morrisey said, “We’ll use every last ounce to fuel our Mountain State Comeback.”
He vowed not only to continue with coal, but with natural gas, hydropower and nuclear energy – an idea that has, at times, been derided by pro-coal lawmakers.
To get there, he wants to cut taxes, regulations and make it easy for industries to set up shop.
Work closely with President Donald Trump
When Morrisey first mentioned President Donald J. Trump, the 123 Republican lawmakers in the room erupted in applause, rising from their seats in a standing ovation.
He positioned West Virginia energy as a major power supplier for Trump’s charge to take on China. Echoing a line from the president’s inauguration last month, he said:
“I know our state and our nation are on our way to a resurgence and a golden era unlike anything we’ve seen before”
Throughout the night, Morrisey vowed to work closely with the Trump administration on a range of issues from energy to education to drug abuse.
West Virginia depends on federal dollars for nearly 50% of the state’s overall budget. Morrisey didn’t mention how potential moves to close the US Department of Education or cuts in federal programs could affect basic services people rely on, like school lunches or seeing a doctor.
At a hearing held earlier on Wednesday on federal block grants, government employees gave five minute speeches about the programs they administer with federal funds.
Anti-smoking and vaping campaigns, assistance for heating and utilities, help for sickly children and subsidies for childcare and many other programs are all funded by federal dollars.
But like Morrisey, not one Republican in the room stopped to ask how any freezes to grant funding could affect those services. Only one Democratic delegate piped up to ask the question.
Cut taxes while closing a $400 million state budget gap
Like Gov. Jim Justice before him, Morrisey said he’s inherited an economic mess.
He said the state’s got a $400 million budget hole coming up that could get bigger over time. His answer is to cut.
He touted audits and reviews of spending decisions across state government. He said the state would not fund new programs without new revenue. And he said he would propose consolidating departments in state government and eliminating numerous boards and commissions.
“We are going to uncover all of the waste and abuse that hides in the dark corners of state government, and we will root it out,” Morrisey said. “If you like what President Trump is doing in DC, you’re going to love what we’re doing right here in West Virginia.”
Now where those cuts will be made will be seen in the budget. Morrisey didn’t mention it, except to say he wanted a “permanent fix” for the state government health insurance.
While lawmakers have talked about a permanent fix for almost a decade, what they’ve done from time to time is just throw money from the surplus at the insurance program when it came up short.
Even with all those money problems, he still called for more tax cuts.
“I’m renewing my call to ensure we have the lowest income tax of all the states that we touch.”
Target trans rights and the “woke virus”
And while Morrisey wants to loosen up mandatory vaccination laws for actual viruses, he vowed to continue to eradicate West Virginia of the “woke virus.”
“We stand for God, for life, for the second amendment, for religious liberty, our Constitution and our freedoms,” Morrisey said. “And we will always fight for those values.”
Morrisey took a victory lap on the closure of DEI offices on the biggest universities in the state, following his executive order banning it from state government.
“That’s a win for West Virginia, and we’re not done yet,” he said.
He bragged about attending a signing for Trump’s ban on transgender children in sports. Morrisey asked the Legislature to pass a bill that would ban transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms for the gender they identify with.
Get rid of cell phones in schools and government permission slips for hospitals
But in a speech replete with platitudes, catch phrases, personal stories and broad visions of policy, Morrisey did not give a laundry list of bills for lawmakers to pass.
He asked for a ban on cellphones in classrooms – garnering one of the few bipartisan applauses of the night. He said he’ll be introducing legislation to start a “one-stop shop” to streamline permitting for industry.
But the biggest legislative request was to repeal “certificate of need.” The governor characterized it as a “government permission slip” to allow new hospitals and healthcare facilities to open.
The niche piece of policy is divisive in policy circles – some say it kills competition that could lower healthcare costs. Others say it ensures healthcare systems can keep profitable services and use those to subsidize needed care that operates at a loss.
He said will be introducing a bill to eliminate it, calling it “a big step forward to improve care for our most vulnerable citizens.”
Reach Henry Culvyhouse at henry@mountainstatespotlight.org
