Committee signals partial support for CareerTech requests; adds TrainND and Marketplace for Kids funding

Senators and budget staff reviewed the Career and Technical Education (CareerTech) long sheet and made preliminary decisions about which items to include in the division’s working budget.

Committee members said they agreed to include the agency’s $4,000,000 cost‑to‑continue request. They declined to add the full list of new programs requested (the transcript lists $22,000,000 as the agency request) but agreed to include $3,000,000 in funding for career and technical education expansion consistent with the governor’s proposal. The committee did not include the work‑based learning coordinator funding (the transcript references $1.5 million requested) in the current draft.

Members added $750,000 for TrainND (the agency requested $1.6 million additional) and $100,000 for Marketplace for Kids (the testimony requested $150,000). The committee did not add STEM ecosystems funding or several recruitment and virtual‑reality career exploration items at this time. Large capital project requests for CareerTech (totaling tens of millions as listed in the request) were deferred; the committee said capital projects will be prioritized later in the session and some items may be considered in a future biennium.

Senators emphasized fiscal restraint and noted vacancy and FTE pools that affect how new positions would be added. Budget staff said the long sheet will be updated to reflect committee decisions and that any approved FTE additions would be shown as adjustments on the face of the bill in a new section describing the vacant FTE pool.

No formal appropriation or final vote on these items was recorded in the transcript; senators characterized the discussion as a starting point for further budget work.