With tonight’s final passage of the state Senate’s FY2026 budget, which passed 38-2, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance is calling out senators for greenlighting the largest budget in state history while continuing to ignore the state’s deepening affordability crisis. 

Despite repeated complaints from Beacon Hill about “uncertainty” coming from Washington D.C., senators added tens of millions in new spending this week, pushing the Senate budget even further beyond the already record-setting $61.3 billion proposed by their Ways and Means Committee. The final number is expected to grow even more once the reconciliation process begins to align with the House budget.

“There’s simply no credibility left for lawmakers who talk about fiscal uncertainty while voting for the largest budget in state history. If they were serious about economic uncertainty, they would have tightened the belt, not let it out,” said Paul D. Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.

The Senate’s budget includes no tax relief for working families or small businesses, no increase in unrestricted local aid to help ease pressure on property taxes and avoid property tax overrides, and no action to reduce the burden of rising energy costs by rolling back costly alternative energy mandates. Small businesses, still struggling with inflation and excessive regulations, were once again left behind.

“Massachusetts taxpayers were completely shut out of this budget. There’s no tax relief, no regulatory relief, and no effort to address the sky-high energy bills and property taxes that are driving residents out of the state. All we got was more spending and more empty speeches,” said Craney.

“States like New Hampshire, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and North Carolina continue to look more attractive to working families and small employers because they prioritize economic competitiveness. Rather than using the budget as an opportunity to give back to the taxpayers, Massachusetts lawmakers chose to grow government at the expense of affordability,” noted Craney.

“Affordability is one of the top concerns for residents, but Beacon Hill just ignored that reality. They had a chance to rein in spending and make life easier for taxpayers, but instead they spent even more and made the state even less competitive,” said Craney.

Throughout the Senate debate, lawmakers added millions in new spending with very few recorded roll call votes, extremely sparse public debate on the floor of the chamber, and little transparency. Despite many senators publicly lamenting the state’s fiscal challenges, few were willing to act responsibly.

With the budget heading to conference committee, taxpayers should brace for an even higher final price tag.

“The hypocrisy was obvious. They talked about the fiscal challenges we face, then kept adding to the problem. Taxpayers have every reason to be disappointed. Beacon Hill is more interested in protecting the size of government than protecting the financial well-being of the people who fund it,” closed Craney.