Legislators will return to the Massachusetts State House after the holiday to try to pass a final state budget.
A six-member conference committee has been trying for weeks to address a serious revenue shortfall impacting the proposed $40.3 billion budget for the fiscal year that started on July 1st.
UMass Amherst Economics Professor Robert Nakosteen said there are a variety of reasons tax collections are so much less than budget-writers initially forecast.
" One is the state's economy, while still strong, is seeing less rapid growth," said Nakosteen.
The Democratic-controlled legislature sent a $5.2 billion stop gap budget to Republican Gov. Charlie Baker weeks ago, and he signed it, to keep state government running for at least the next month.
