Wrestling those amped-up spending appetites and underwhelming revenue trends back into alignment will remain a theme as lawmakers and the Healey administration embark on a 2025-26 session that also presents an array of opportunities and challenges around education, health care, transportation, workforce and economic development, and capital spending on infrastructure, the budget and policy analysts at the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said in a comprehensive session preview published Wednesday.

"Looking ahead to FY 2026, maintaining modest rates of spending growth should be a priority for policymakers, particularly as they face both known and unknown cost exposures outside of the annual operating budget, including the Emergency Assistance shelter system and the Steward hospital crisis," said the business-backed group often called upon by the Legislature and administration for fiscal and policy advice.