The Technical Education Authority reviewed the Legislature’s fiscal year 2026 appropriations for community and technical colleges and discussed priorities for the FY27 request on May 29.

Elaine Frisbie, vice president for finance and administration, presented tables showing the distribution of state aid and appropriations. "We did get full funding for the cost model," Frisbie said, referring to the state's instructional cost model used to calculate tiered and non‑tiered course distributions. She noted changes in several appropriations: capital outlay for CTE has been consolidated into a single appropriation of $12,400,000 that requires a 1:1 institutional match; operating grants for technical colleges were reduced from $10.5 million to $7 million for FY26; and Campus Restoration Act distributions were prorated downward, reducing planned $100,000 allocations to roughly $92,350 per coordinated institution.

Frisbie also described a newly applied proviso affecting the 19 community colleges: each must certify cash‑on‑hand for FY25 to qualify for certain business‑and‑industry and apprenticeship distributions. "We've developed a certification form for the 19 colleges," she told the authority, and staff will seek preliminary certifications in July with awards to eligible colleges to follow in September.

Frisbie flagged several FY26 items that the Legislature did not fund, including competitive community/technical college grants, a technical innovation/internship line and cybersecurity/information technology improvements that had been proposed. That omission drew concern from TEA members: one member said the cut to cybersecurity funding was "a real loss" and urged more emphasis on IT and cybersecurity investments.

Before the meeting, the authority's budget and finance committee asked staff to prepare a FY27 priority list. Staff proposed that the highest priorities be full funding for the instructional cost model lines — tiered and non‑tiered technical education state aid — and continued funding for Excel and CTE allocations. Multiple TEA members and sector leaders told staff that retaining current funding levels for those formula lines should be the top request, given tight state revenue outlooks and the Legislature’s recent reductions in other line items.

The authority voted to approve a supplemental distribution for prior‑year Excel and CTE enrollments after the Legislature provided $359,000 to remedy a shortfall; the motion was carried without recorded opposition. TEA members directed staff to continue preparing FY27 requests and to coordinate final priorities with college sector representatives before the Board of Regents' July budget workshop.

No final FY27 appropriation was adopted during the meeting; staff will return with refined requests and expect to present to the Board of Regents in July.