Virginia and West Virginia Report Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Surpluses

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger announced a fiscal year 2026 budget surplus of $936.3 million, attributing the result to general fund revenue growth of $2.09 billion, or 6.7 percent year-over-year, driven by individual income tax and sales tax receipts. Separately, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey's office reported that the state ended fiscal year 2026 with a $370 million revenue surplus. Both announcements were made through the respective governors' offices in July 2026, covering the same fiscal year period. The two states reported different surplus totals reflecting their differing revenue bases and fiscal conditions, with Virginia's surplus more than double that of West Virginia. Virginia's announcement included detailed revenue breakdowns citing strong income and sales tax collections as primary drivers, while West Virginia's report did not include comparable revenue-source detail in the available materials. An earlier report from May 2026 on West Virginia's legislative session noted that lawmakers passed a workforce training bill allowing the state to reimburse businesses up to $100,000 for skills training, though this measure's connection to the state's eventual fiscal year-end surplus is not established. No further details on planned uses of either surplus, legislative responses, or additional budgetary actions were included in the available reporting. It remains unresolved whether the West Virginia workforce training legislation was signed into law or took effect, and no information was provided on how either state plans to allocate its surplus funds. The relationship, if any, between West Virginia's legislative session outcomes and its fiscal year 2026 financial results is not clarified in the source material.