Staff
Ann Hollingshead
(916) 319-8305
State Budget and Federal Funding
Carolyn Chu
(916) 319-8326
Chief Deputy Legislative Analyst


Publications

State Budget Condition

To browse all LAO publications, visit our Publications page.



Report

The 2023-24 Budget: Overview of the Spending Plan (Final Version)

October 16, 2023 - This publication provides a preliminary overview of the 2023-24 Budget Act, gives a brief description of how the budget process unfolded, and then highlights major features of the budget.


Report

The 2023-24 Budget: California Spending Plan Series

October 2, 2023 - Each year, our office publishes California Spending Plan, a series of publications that summarize the annual state budget. The final version of Overview of the California Spending Plan is presented here along with short online posts that focus on major areas and features of the 2023-24 budget package. As these posts become available, we will add them below.


Report

Supplemental Report of the 2023-24 Budget Act

September 29, 2023 - The Supplemental Report of the 2023-24 Budget Act contains statements of legislative intent and requests for studies that were adopted by the Legislature during deliberations on the 2023-24 budget package.


Handout

Overview of the Legislature’s Budget Package

June 14, 2023 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review


Brief

The 2023-24 Budget: Multiyear Budget Outlook

May 23, 2023 - This brief presents our office’s independent assessment of the condition of the state General Fund budget through 2026‑27 under our forecast of revenues and spending, assuming the Governor’s May Revision policies were adopted.


Report

The 2023-24 May Revision: LAO Analyses

May 15, 2023 - As our office publishes responses to the Governor's 2023-24 May Revision, we will add them to this index page.


Brief

The 2023-24 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor's May Revision

May 15, 2023 - On May 12, 2023, Governor Newsom presented a revised state budget proposal to the Legislature. (This annual proposed revised budget is called the “May Revision.”) In this brief, we provide a summary of and comments on the Governor’s revised budget, focusing on the overall condition and structure of the state General Fund—the budget’s main operating account.


Post

Whether or Not to Tap Reserves to Solve Estimated Budget Problem Emerges as Key Fiscal Decision Facing California’s Legislature

April 19, 2023 - Through the final months of the 2023-24 budget process, California’s Legislature will make numerous important decisions regarding the allocation of state resources in the context of a budget problem. Few choices will be as consequential for the state’s medium-term fiscal outlook as whether or not to draw upon its budget reserves to close a projected deficit.


Brief

The 2023-24 Budget: Multiyear Assessment

February 15, 2023 - This brief provides our current assessment of the scale of the coming budget problems under the Governor’s budget proposals. We also provide our guidance to the Legislature about how to address these shortfalls given current economic conditions.


Handout

The 2023-24 Budget: Overview of the Governor’s Budget (Assembly Handout)

February 8, 2023 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Budget


Post

The 2023-24 Budget: State Appropriations Limit Estimates

February 1, 2023 - This post provides a brief summary of the administration’s state appropriations limit-related estimates under the Governor’s budget.


Handout

The 2023-24 Budget: Overview of the Governor’s Budget (Senate Handout)

January 18, 2023 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review


Report

The 2023-24 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

January 13, 2023 - On January 10, 2023, Governor Newsom presented his proposed state budget to the Legislature. In this report, we provide a brief summary of the proposed budget based on our initial review. In the coming weeks, we will analyze the plan in more detail and release several additional budget analyses.


Handout

How Program Spending Grew in Recent Years

January 5, 2023 - This handout explores how program spending increased since 2013-14. We focus on trends in spending since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Post

New Inflation Poses Not So New Budget Risk

December 15, 2022 - Persistent high inflation presents federal and state policymakers with an economic problem not seen in roughly four decades. In fact, during much of the past 15-year period, inflation not only was subdued, it consistently ran below the Federal Reserve’s (the Fed’s) target of 2 percent. Chronically below-target inflation eventually prompted the Fed in August 2020 to adjust its policy framework to combat this tendency. Not long after, however, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation trends and the Fed’s orientation to them began to reverse. Once it emerged, inflation accelerated throughout 2021 and has remained elevated this year with as yet indeterminate signs of abating.