March 29, 2022 - Presented to the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration and the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy.
February 13, 2024 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on State Administration
April 3, 2020 - This post in our COVID-19 series on federal actions affecting California summarizes federal financial assistance provided to businesses.
September 23, 2021 - This post discusses features of the state's spending plan that were not covered elsewhere in the 2021-22 Spending Plan series.
February 13, 2020 - This report assesses the Governor’s major 2020-21 budget proposals related to climate change. The four proposals we evaluate are the Governor's (1) cap-and-trade expenditure plan ($965 million), (2) expanded climate adaptation research and technical assistance activities ($25 million), (3) new Climate Catalyst loan fund ($250 million), and (4) climate bond ($4.75 billion).
February 20, 2024 - We analyze the Governor's proposals for new spending at the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.
January 26, 2022 - This 2022-23 budget post provides background on federal COVID-19 business assistance programs and describes the Governor’s proposal to modify state tax laws as they relate to some of these grant programs. This post also provides some comments to the Legislature on the Governor’s proposal.
October 2, 2024 - This post discusses features of the state's spending plan that were not covered elsewhere in the 2024-25 Spending Plan series.
April 14, 2011 - This letter is a statutorily-required analysis of the community development financial institution (CDFI) tax credit programs.
February 18, 2020 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Hon. Holly J. Mitchell, Chair
February 5, 2021 - This publication provides detailed information and our initial comments on each component of the Governor's 2021-22 package of proposals—totaling $1 billion—to reduce the risk of severe and damaging wildfires. (See also our publication The 2021-22 Budget: Wildfire Resilience Package for an overview of and our initial comments on the package.)
January 10, 2019 - In the event of a large-scale disaster, state and local governments, individuals and households, and businesses all can face damage to their properties and other possessions. Many of these losses ultimately are borne by these entities or individuals, their insurance, or the parties deemed responsible for the disaster, if applicable. However, both the federal government and the State of California provide various types of financial and in-kind assistance following certain disasters to offset some of the costs associated with recovering from disasters. Notably, the type of federal and state assistance that is available can vary by disaster, with some assistance only available in the aftermath of larger state or federally declared disasters. In this post, we summarize some of the major types of recovery assistance that can be available.
November 8, 2023 - This post discusses features of the state's spending plan that were not covered elsewhere in the 2023-24 Spending Plan series.
January 13, 2020 - This report presents our office’s initial assessment of the Governor’s budget. We estimate the Governor had a $6 billion surplus to allocate to discretionary purposes in 2020-21. The Governor allocates most of the surplus toward one-time purposes, including maintaining a positive year-end balance in the state’s discretionary reserve. Under the administration’s estimates, total reserves would reach $20.5 billion at the end of 2020-21—this represents a $1.7 billion increase from the 2019-20 enacted level. California continues to enjoy a healthy fiscal situation. Despite its positive near-term picture, the budget’s multiyear outlook is subject to considerable uncertainty. In addition to describing the condition of the budget under the Governor’s proposal, this report discusses tools the Legislature can use to mitigate against these heightened risks.
January 20, 2020: Upon further review, one item included in the original version of Appendix Figure 3 on discretionary on health spending should not have been included (specfically, use of the Medi-Cal drug rebate fund to offset General Fund costs). Removing this item—which reduces General Fund spending—from the list of discretionary choices made in the Governor’s budget increases our calculation of the surplus to $6 billion. The document is updated to reflect these changes.
Update 1/24/20: Adjusted Judicial Branch items in Appendix Figure 1 to reflect ongoing spending.
January 4, 2024 - This report provides an analysis of state assistance given to businesses in response to COVID-19. It includes: (1) background information on the state and federal programs that provided both broad and targeted relief to businesses; (2) a description of the industries that received the most public assistance; and (3) a description of the types of communities, defined using zip codes, that received more state and federal assistance. The report concludes with some findings and comments for the Legislature.
August 13, 1996 - (1) California’s Transportation Finance Bank, and (2) Economic and Revenue Developments