HOUSE AND SENATE leaders sounded cautionary notes on Wednesday about the state’s fiscal situation.

Senate budget chief Michael Rodrigues of Westport was noncommittal when asked about Gov. Maura Healey’s plan to drain $700 million in surplus revenue funds to cover rising expenses this year and next year associated with the state’s emergency shelter system.

The shelter system received $340 million in the budget for this year. The Legislature last month gave Healey an extra $250 million to cover the rising cost associated with an influx of migrants from other countries, but Healey has already indicated that more will be needed this year and next to cover costs that are expected to top $900 million annually.

Rodrigues said he wasn’t surprised more money was needed, but appeared wary of Healey’s plan to tap surplus funds in a reserve account. “We’ve been very responsible for building up this reserve fund, and we’re going to think long and hard about how we expend any of those reserve funds,” Rodrigues said.

Tax revenues are lagging far below projections, the emergency shelter crisis could cost nearly $1 billion this year and next year, and it’s not clear if Massachusetts will need to repay the federal government after misusing $2.5 billion in relief on unemployment aid.

The CEOs of Chambers of Commerce from around the state warned in late November that state spending over the last five years has far outpaced inflation. “This approach is not sustainable and not responsible,” the business leaders said. 

Mariano suggested Tuesday a need for “fiscal prudence.” Asked Wednesday if he regrets backing such large spending increases in recent years — the current $56 billion fiscal 2024 budget is about 16 percent larger than two years prior — he replied, “Regrets is a strong word.”

“Having been around as long as I’ve been around, I understand that everything is cyclical. When you’re riding the wave, it’s only a matter of time before you’re going to fall off the wave and hit the bottom,” the 17-term Democrat said. “Those of us who have been around a while have sort of expected some sort of contraction. The severity is always the question. The severity is what we’re going to be faced with, I think, pretty quickly, so we’ll just have to figure it out.”