To browse all LAO publications, visit our Publications page.
December 2, 2024 -
Download our companion infographic for a quick summary of the issues and recommendations in this report.
California’s unemployment insurance (UI) program provides temporary wage replacement to unemployed workers. The state’s UI program financing system is broken. Benefits now routinely outpace incoming tax contributions, leading to a costly reliance on federal loans and constraining the state’s options to improve the program. This report describes the problems with the system in greater detail, including historical context and our projections of the future. We offer four recommendations that would fix the state’s broken UI system.
December 2, 2024 - CalFacts presents a wide range of facts and trends about the state's economy, finances, and programs.
October 8, 2024 -
Presented To: Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation
Hon. Jacqui Irwin, Chair
June 13, 2024 - Chapter 837 of 2019 (SB 34, Wiener) established new tax exemptions for donations of medicinal cannabis. The law directs our office to submit an annual report containing data on three outcomes related to the exemptions: the number of medicinal cannabis patients served, the amount of medicinal cannabis products donated, and the amount of tax revenue lost. This post fulfills that statutory requirement for 2023.
April 15, 2024 - Published in accordance with Chapter 353 of 2022 (AB 2622, Mullin), which directs our office to review the effectiveness of a partial sales tax exemption for zero-emission buses.
April 1, 2024 - Submitted in accordance with Section 7(b)(1) of Chapter 51 of 2022 (AB 192, Committee on Budget) that directs our office to evaluate the extent to which the Better for Families tax refund helped families meet the demands of inflation during the pandemic.
March 11, 2024 - The first part of this report describes low-wage workers' occupations, genders, races/ethnicities, birthplaces, household structures, educational attainment, and weekly hours. The second part focuses on low-wage workers' ages. The third part compares the statewide minimum wage to various benchmarks to assess whether it is high, low, or somewhere in between.
February 20, 2024 - We analyze the Governor's proposals for new spending at the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.
February 13, 2024 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on State Administration
November 15, 2023 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation
June 14, 2023 - Chapter 837 of 2019 (SB 34, Wiener) established new tax exemptions for donations of medicinal cannabis. The law directs our office to submit an annual report containing data on three outcomes related to the exemptions: the number of medicinal cannabis patients served, the amount of medicinal cannabis products donated, and the amount of tax revenue lost. This report fulfills that statutory requirement for 2022.
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.
February 27, 2023 - Returning personal and corporate income tax estimated payment amounts to four equal payments, beginning in tax year 2024, would shift about 8 percent of personal income tax estimated payments and 13 percent of corporation estimated payments from 2023‑24 to 2024‑25. Returning to the historical payment schedule would have little net effect on revenue in 2024‑25. Specifically, while the change would shift roughly $5 billion from 2023‑24 to 2024‑25, the change also would have the effect of shifting a similar amount from 2024‑25 to 2025‑26. As a result, the net impact on 2024‑25 and later years would minimal.
February 22, 2023 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications