MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Public Employees Insurance Agency faced a substantial and at times emotional crowd at West Virginia University’s Mountainlair on Monday evening as officials presented the draft financial plan for Fiscal Year 2027.

The event was the fifth stop in a statewide circuit of public hearings, with four previous sessions held in other regions of West Virginia. The circuit will conclude with a virtual hearing scheduled for Nov. 20 at 6 p.m.

Educators, retirees and state workers filled the Mountainlair ballroom, many of whom said they return every year hoping for improvement. Their frustration was evident throughout the evening.

“I keep coming here every year hoping things will get better,” said one speaker during public comment, “but they just get worse and worse, and our

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