Legislators Hear CTE Budget Pitch as State Sees Large Demand for Welding, Nursing and Other Programs

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Feb. 10 heard an overview of the Division of Career Technical Education’s (CTE) base budget and FY2026 requests, including a governor-recommended $10 million ongoing fund aimed at expanding capacity in high-demand programs such as welding and nursing.

Kevin Campbell, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, summarized the division’s structure and funding streams and noted that CTE’s costs are concentrated in personnel and trustee/benefit payments. Joshua Whitworth, interim state administrator for the CTE division, told the committee the requests respond to “massive growth of demand” across secondary and postsecondary programs and called attention to wait lists in multiple programs.

CTE’s budget presentation listed several recent appropriations and requests. Recent and proposed funding highlights included: - $10,000,000 one-time general fund for secondary CTE programs (recent appropriation). - $5,000,000 one-time for equipment and one-time investments in postsecondary CTE programs (recent appropriation). - $5,000,000 ongoing from the general fund for CTE readiness in middle and high schools (recent appropriation). - Governor-recommended $10,000,000 ongoing to build capacity in…