On May 6th, the Senate Ways and Means (SWM) committee released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget proposal, six days after the House finalized its version of the spending bill following three days of debate. Spending in the SWM budget totals $61.42 billion, $3.6 billion (6.3 percent) more than the FY 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), $649 million less than the Governor’s FY 2026 budget, and $151 million less than the House’s proposal. 

Like the House, the SWM budget does not reflect any of the tax policy proposals put forward by Governor Healey to generate new revenue in FY 2026. Their spending bill does, however, rely on approximately $1.8 billion in revenue solutions; of which MTF estimates $1.5 billion are one-time in nature. 

The Senate’s spending bill increases funding for support services, local aid, and mental health-related programs compared to the House; while providing notably less funding for transportation, particularly related to the MBTA.