Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Opioid Abatement Authority updates grants portal, explains 2026-27 renewal budget process
Loading...
Summary
The Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) told state agencies during a webinar that renewal proposals for the 2026-27 period must be submitted through the grants portal by June 8 and showed how to report 2025-26 expenditures, calculate carry‑forward amounts and enter 2026-27 requests so funding and expenses reconcile.
Charlie Undercome, director of operations at the Opioid Abatement Authority, opened a webinar for state agencies to describe updates to the OAA grants portal and new guidance for renewal budgets. He said the presentation would focus on how applicants should report 2025-26 expenditures and request 2026-27 funding through the portal.
Why it matters: Agencies must accurately report current-year spending to compute carry‑forward amounts that can be used in next year’s budgets. The portal changes aim to make carry‑forward and new funding requests clearer and to reduce reconciliation errors before award recommendations are posted.
Undercome and OAA staff gave a timeline and submission rules. Renewal proposals must be submitted through the grants portal and signed by an agency head or designee before the June 8 deadline. Undercome said recommendations will be posted on Aug. 7 and the grants committee will consider awards on Aug. 15. “All proposals have to be submitted through the grants portal,” Undercome said, adding that the agency will post webinar recordings and slide decks on its website.
Sharika Bridges, the OAA’s senior manager of grant operations, walked through the portal updates and budget screens. She said agencies should involve their finance or budget teams when preparing renewals and warned that inaccurate reporting of 2025-26 expenditures could affect 2026-27 award amounts. Bridges explained the portal now separates the renewal budget into two main sections: the current-year (2025-26) expenses and the upcoming-year (2026-27) requests. Each section is broken into personnel, operating/capital and funding-source pages. She noted text boxes on project proposal narratives are limited to 5,000 characters and up to 10 supporting documents (contracts, MOUs, draft agreements) may be attached in the pop-up editor.
Bridges gave a working example: a $15,000 carry‑forward available from 2025-26 plus a $120,000 new OAA request for 2026-27 yields a $135,000 total request; the portal shows a reconciliation that should result in a zero difference when expenses and funding sources align. She also clarified that personnel pages should list only direct state‑agency employees; roles paid through subrecipients or contractors belong under operating expenses.
Matt Terrell, senior business analyst, ran a live demonstration in the OAA’s UAT environment showing how to edit current‑year line items, assign carry‑forward amounts to upcoming line items, and confirm funding-source reconciliation. In his demo he used smaller numbers to illustrate the mechanics (for example, $1,000 carry‑forward plus $4,000 new funds for a $5,000 total request) and confirmed the portal’s reconciliation checks before saving.
Next steps and help: Agencies that need assistance should contact their OAA liaison via the portal communications tab or email info@voaa.us. Bridges reminded executive-branch agencies that they may also need to complete any required steps with the governor’s office before final submission. The OAA said it will post the recorded webinar, slide decks and the renewal budget template on voaa.us and notify subscribers when materials are available.
