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January 14, 2008 - Elizabeth Hill's Initial Assessment of the 2008-09 Governor's Budget.
January 14, 2008 - The Governor has put forward an aggressive agenda for the special session and the 2008–09 budget. The Legislature should focus first on those areas where time is of the essence—where early decisions will allow state programs to achieve desired savings in the current year. The special session should also be used to lay the groundwork for achieving budget–year savings—for instance, by developing any program restructurings and taking any necessary actions on the current–year Proposition 98 minimum guarantee. In contrast to the Governor’s approach of across–the–board reductions, in our view the Legislature should (1) eliminate or further reduce low–priority programs in order to minimize the impact on higher priority programs and (2) examine additional revenue options as part of a more balanced approach. Making tough choices now will allow the state to move closer to bringing its long–term spending and revenues into alignment.
November 27, 2007 - Presented by Elizabeth Hill to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, November 27, 2007.
November 14, 2007 - Elizabeth Hill describes California's Fiscal Outlook, 2007-08 Through 2012-13
November 14, 2007 - In order to balance the 2008–09 budget, the state will have to adopt nearly $10 billion in solutions. Addressing the state’s current budget problem is even more urgent because we forecast a continuing gap between revenues and expenditures. A plan to permanently address the state’s fiscal troubles must involve a substantial portion of ongoing solutions. This is not only because of the persistent operating deficits projected throughout the forecast, but also because of the downside risks inherent with the economy, General Fund revenue volatility, and a wide range of budgetary uncertainties. Making tough choices now will allow the state to move closer to putting its fiscal woes in the past.
October 15, 2007 - 2007-08 state budget update presented to Los Angeles County Office of Education, October 4, 2007.
October 15, 2007 - The state spending plan for 2007–08 includes total budget expenditures of $131.5 billion. This includes $102.3 billion from the General Fund and $29.2 billion from special funds, an increase of 4.3 percent from 2006–07. The state also expects to spend $14 billion in bond funds for infrastructure during the fiscal year. The enacted budget, with the Governor’s vetoes, assumed that the state would spend no more than it received in 2007–08 and end the year with a $4.1 billion reserve. Many of the budget solutions are of a one–time nature. Based on the 2007–08 budget plan’s policies, therefore, the state would once again face operating shortfalls of more than $5 billion in both 2008–09 and 2009–10.
August 31, 2007 - On August 21, 2007, the Legislature passed the 2007-08 Budget Bill, along with implementing legislation. The Governor signed the budget on August 24, after using his line item veto authority to reduce General Fund appropriations by $703 million. The budget package authorizes total General Fund spending of $102.3 billion, essentially the same as revenues. Based on the 2007-08 budget plan’s policies, however, the state would once again face operating shortfalls of more than $5 billion in both 2008-09 and 2009-10. This is because many of the solutions enacted in the budget plan are of a one-time nature.
July 24, 2007 - Summary of the 2007-08 budget package considered by the Legislature on July 20, 2007.
May 15, 2007 - In this video, Elizabeth Hill Assesses the 2007-08 May Revision.
May 15, 2007 - The administration released its May Revision yesterday, identifying over $2 billion in new budget solutions to address a comparable level of increased budgetary problem. In this document, we provide our initial assessment of the problem definition and the viability of the administration’s proposed solutions.
March 21, 2007 - Presented March 21, 2007, to the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs, California Agenda.