Staff
Chas Alamo
(916) 319-8357
Personal Income Tax, Employment, and Labor Law
Ann Hollingshead
(916) 319-8305
State Budget and Federal Funding
Nick Schroeder
(916) 319-8314
Public Employment, CalPERS, Elections, Veterans Affairs
Paul Steenhausen
(916) 319-8303
Local Government, Housing, and Homelessness
Brian Uhler
(916) 319-8328
Deputy Legislative Analyst: Economy, Taxes, and Labor
Alex Bentz
(916) 319-8312
Property Taxes, Bonds, and the Economy
Rowan Isaaks
(916) 319-8362
Corporation Tax and Economic Development
Seth Kerstein
(916) 319-8365
Sales and Excise Taxes and Demographics


Publications

Economy and Taxes

To browse all LAO publications, visit our Publications page.



Report

Fixing Unemployment Insurance

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.


Report

CalFacts 2024

December 2, 2024 - CalFacts presents a wide range of facts and trends about the state's economy, finances, and programs.


Handout

California's Tax Agencies: How We Got Here

October 8, 2024 - Presented To: Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation
Hon. Jacqui Irwin, Chair


Post

Annual Report on Tax Exemptions for Medicinal Cannabis

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.


Post

Evaluation of a Tax Exemption for Zero-Emission Buses

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.


Letter

Evaluation of the Better for Families Tax Refund

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.


Post

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

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.


Post

The 2024-25 Budget: Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development

February 20, 2024 - We analyze the Governor's proposals for new spending at the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.


Handout

Overview of the State Small Business Credit Initiative

February 13, 2024 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on State Administration


Handout

Local Sales Tax Revenue Allocation

November 15, 2023 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation


Post

Annual Report on Tax Exemptions for Medicinal Cannabis

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.


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.


Brief

The 2023-24 Budget: California's Film Tax Credit

February 28, 2023 - This brief surveys research on the economic effects of state film tax credits and analyzes the Governor's proposal to extend California's film tax credit for five years.


Post

Effect of Returning to Historical Estimated Tax Payment Schedule

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.


Handout

Overview of Gasoline Prices and Key Considerations for the Special Session

February 22, 2023 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications