The longer the state goes without a plan in place, the more it impacts the ability to implement new programs or expand existing ones, said Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and former senior policy advisor to Senate President Karen Spilka.

“There’s a whole lot that goes into how critical or impactful the timing of the budget finalization is to the state’s finances and its credit rating,” said Howgate, also a former budget director for the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “You don’t want that deadline to keep creeping and creeping and creeping, because if something goes wrong, then all of a sudden, you could be in a time of significant delay.”