The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance released the following statement today following the passage of the annual state budget by the legislature:

"Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka continue to set new records for their unprofessional and opaque practices. Not only are they once again the last legislature in the country to pass their budget, but its release on Sunday night gave lawmakers and the public mere hours to review the document before leadership forced a vote on it today. The annual budget is the most important task for lawmakers to take up each year. It's simply impossible that lawmakers could give this $52.7 Billion spending plan the due diligence it deserves in that short amount of time. It’s very likely only leadership knows what they are passing today," stated Paul D. Craney, a spokesman for MassFiscal.