F&A outlines $80M for Memphis, $50M for AI and $70M for ERP modernization; committee seeks detail on grants and timelines
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Summary
Finance & Administration told lawmakers it plans an $80M targeted investment for Memphis public safety, $50M to create an AI foundation and $70M for Edison ERP modernization; committee members pressed for program details, procurement timelines and reporting on grant outcomes.
Commissioner Jim Bryson and deputies presented the Finance & Administration FY27 request to the Finance, Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 24, 2026, describing the department’s budget and several targeted investments.
The Office of Criminal Justice Programs (OCJP) said the governor’s request includes $1.7M recurring to expand human‑trafficking victim services and $80M nonrecurring for crime intervention and prevention in Memphis. OCJP Director Jennifer Brinkman said the money would support community‑based prevention, law enforcement coordination and evidence‑based interventions; F&A confirmed OCJP will administer the competitive pools and that the department expects to keep internal administrative costs to a small percentage of the grants.
Kristen Darby, chief information officer for Strategic Technology Solutions, presented the STS modernization plan and described concentrated, nonrecurring investments totaling about $149.2M: $50M for AI enablement, $70M for an ERP modernization (Edison) and $20M to relocate the North Data Center (phase 2). Darby said the Edison discovery phase is complete, an RFP for a platform is expected in summer 2026, and the state expects the platform selection by the end of calendar 2026; public‑sector ERP implementations typically run 5–6 years, with efforts to adopt private‑sector practices to compress timelines. On AI, Darby stressed governance: the investment will build a centralized governance and audit infrastructure, scale vetted use cases across agencies and provide guardrails to reduce risk. A pilot contact‑center deployment using generative AI reported early productivity gains and higher customer satisfaction.
Why it matters: the proposals include large one‑time technology and program investments that could reorient state admin systems and fund city‑level violence‑reduction work. Committee members sought clarity on how the $80M Memphis package will be administered (50M to the city; 30M to nonprofits/government subrecipients per the budget language) and what reporting will be required to measure outcomes. F&A said OCJP will administer the $15M subrecipient grants and that the city of Memphis will receive $50M under the proposal; the department said it plans internal administration of grant evaluation and will set reporting requirements in alignment with budget language.
Ending: Committee members asked F&A to return with procurement schedules, reporting metrics for the Memphis grants and additional detail on the governance model for the AI investment. F&A pledged follow‑up materials and timelines for the Edison procurement and the Memphis grant administration plan.
