SSTI Digest

As revenues continue to tighten, many states entered fiscal year 2027 (FY 2027)—which began July 1 for most—with cautious or constrained spending priorities. With the exception of South Carolina, all states have now enacted their FY 2027 budgets. Most adopted maintenance‑level or reduced spending plans that limited new recurring expenditures, reduced one‑time appropriations, and reprioritized core services such as Medicaid and education.

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced that the Economic Development Administration (EDA) intends to award $169 million across six selected Tech Hubs. The competition for this funding was open to the 19 designated Hubs that had not yet received EDA Tech Hubs Implementation Awards.

The momentum building in the 21 “Building Better Regions” (BBR) projects is growing, and RTI, the leader of the BBBRC Community of Practice, and SSTI are seeing positive impacts and approaches to collaborative regional innovation that could benefit other practitioners and TBED stakeholders if made aware of the success.

The new year begins with a layer of both fiscal and political uncertainty. For at least 18 states, it will be a year of change in political leadership. After several years of continuous revenue growth, states are crafting their Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budgets amid slower growth, rising costs, and heightened unease. At the same time, the 2026 gubernatorial campaign season also begins in earnest. More than three dozen governorships are on the November ballot, and at least 18 states (see map below) expect to elect a new governor due to an incumbent either being term-limited or choosing not to run for re-election.

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they discuss the innovation economy, the following highlights have been selected from five of the eight State of the States or budget addresses given between Jan. 17 and Jan. 28, 2025, by the governors from Maine, Missouri, New Mexico, Utah, and Wisconsin. Information on previous 2025 State of the States and/or budget addresses can be found here.

Additional addresses and states will be covered in future Digest issues.

FYI This Week, a science policy newsletter from the American Institute of Physics, reported in their November 25 article Commerce aims to commit CHIPS money before Trump returns that “Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said … she is trying to allocate all the semiconductor manufacturing and research funds appropriated by the CHIPS and Science Act before President Joe Biden leaves office." Since Raimondo made that statement, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) has announced the following CHIPS and Science Act Awards:

After a busy election season that saw gubernatorial elections in 36 states, newly elected and re-elected governors delivered their annual State of the State addresses, kicking off new programs and reviewing the conditions of their states. SSTI reviews the speeches every year and covers news of new developments and initiatives the governors have highlighted as they relate to the innovation economy. New programs are laid out here in the governors own words as excerpts from their State of the State or budget addresses. Not all governors delivered a State of the State, and some that did may not have revealed new innovation-related initiatives and so are not included in our coverage. Common initiatives among the governors that touched on innovation included an emphasis on workforce, education and broadband; water issues for Western governors; and, clean energy.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced 11 additional states whose SSBCI plans have been approved: Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Utah. This is in addition to the 20 states that have been approved this year: California, Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, West Virginia, Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Colorado, Montana, New York, North Carolina and Oregon.

Taking what Gov. Mike Parson called a “bold step to support high-tech entrepreneurship, innovation and growth,” the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC) released an Implementation Plan built off an earlier strategic plan (Catalyzing Innovation Report) designed to build the state’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems.

Missouri has a new tool to support the advancement of entrepreneurship and innovation across the state. The Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC), in partnership with TEConomy Partners LLC., identified strategic recommendations and actions to drive innovation and entrepreneurship in Missouri developed under the Missouri Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategy Steering Committee. The report says that MTC has had significant impacts on the state's economy, revealing that its total program portfolio has generated an economic activity return of $100.74 back to the state for every $1 invested.

In the largest single gift in the history of Missouri higher education, $300 million has been donated to support Missouri S&T that will enable the university to establish a new school of innovation and entrepreneurship, among other things. The benefactors are St. Louis businessman Fred Kummer, a graduate of the school who credited the education he received there with his success, and his wife.

The Kummers’ gift will be channeled into a new not-for-profit foundation that will support several new initiatives at Missouri S&T including:

Eleven states are holding gubernatorial elections this year with nine incumbents seeking reelection, two of which are facing off against their lieutenant governor. Only one governor, Steve Bullock in Montana, is term-limited and unable to seek reelection. In Utah, Gov. Gary Herbert is stepping down from the position he has held for 10 years. While many of the races this year will reflect referendums on the current governor’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the candidates have announced their innovation and economic development initiatives. In the final stretch of the gubernatorial race, here are some of the candidates’ innovation-related policies, positions and prior accomplishments.

Delaware