The Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget development process has now entered one of its final stages, Conference negotiations. The Conference Committee, led by the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means, must reconcile all spending, policy, and technical differences between the budget bills passed by each branch; with the goal of delivering a final spending plan to Governor Healey’s desk by July 1st.

This year, budget negotiations are also taking place at a time when changing economic trends and the impacts of federal actions have raised legitimate questions about the appropriateness of adjusting FY 2026 revenue expectations.