The budget pumps money into MassHealth, financial aid at public colleges and universities and free school meals, while holding the purse strings on some funds that sheriffs are seeking for their jails and houses of correction.

Lawmakers did agree to pass two so-called mini budget bills, one in July and one in September, that included minor spending including authorizing step increases. Hise said the new bill would give the Office of State Budget and Management funds needed for those step increases in some state agency jobs.

The Senate's meeting on Oct. 14 will be another attempt to approve legislation to fund the government, following seven previous unsuccessful tries.

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate  Budget Committee, is leading a group of Senate Democrats in calling for an investigation into the financial impact of the Trump administration’s decision to deploy National Guard members to several major U.

The Republican-led Pennsylvania Senate sent a $47.9 billion spending plan to the state House on Tuesday, but the proposal was dead on arrival and deemed “unserious” in the Democratic-controlled chamber,

Republicans state lawmakers were able to reach a deal on a new congressional map but remain deeply divided over how to run North Carolina, with a new budget deal still far out of reach.

State House and Senate leaders say this week's legislative session on redistricting likely marks their final votes of 2025 — which would end the year with no agreements on Medicaid funding or a full state budget.

Top Democrats in the Massachusetts Senate offered a full-throated denial Thursday that county sheriffs gave them a heads-up on multi-million-dollar budget overruns.

The Pennsylvania state budget is currently 114 days late. Senate leaders were asked if they made any progress in their negotiations. “It’s a great question,” said Senate

Senate Republicans passed another flat-funded budget Tuesday, virtually identical to the one passed in August that was shot down by Democrats.