FY2026 Budget Hinges on Construction Projects to Boost Revenue Amid Conservative Spending Plan

Led by Julio Rhymer, director of the Office of Management and Budget, Governor Albert Bryan's financial team on Tuesday provided an overview of the FY2026 Executive Budget, repeatedly described as “conservative,” to the Committee on Budget, Appropriations, and Finance.  The total $1.64 billion budget includes $936,426,140 in general fund appropriations, a marked increase from the $864,132,155 in the FY2025 budget.  “We have taken a highly conservative approach due to many uncertainties driven by the current environment in the US government,” Mr. Rhymer said. The cancellation of federal grants has the potential to place the territory in a particularly precarious position. The impact of tariffs, too, has placed OMB on high alert. “As we go through this budget cycle, there will be a need to adapt to the fluidity of the political and economic environment,” he told committee members.  “I think the director of OMB is being prudent, smart, to try to be as conservative as possible,” Senator...