Real WV – The West Virginia Democratic Party, on Monday, sharply criticized Governor Patrick Morrisey for his refusal to release a taxpayer-funded report prepared by the West Virginia Department of Revenue that analyzes the impact of President Donald Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” on West Virginia’s finances. With nearly 50 percent of West Virginia’s operating budget derived from federal funds, the state is uniquely vulnerable to deep federal spending cuts like those contained in Trump’s bill — cuts that threaten health care, food assistance, and core services for West Virginians.
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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. 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.
“Your tax dollars paid for the study, but Governor Morrisey doesn’t want you to see what you paid for,” said West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin. “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.”
