March 2, 2021 - In this publication, we provide an overview of the Governor’s emergency spending authorities. We assess the Governor’s 2021-22 January budget proposals to extend, modify, and expand emergency spending authorities to continue to respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Finally, we recommend ways to improve the oversight of emergency spending for COVID-19 as well as future emergencies.
April 5, 2020 - In recent weeks Congress has passed legislation that has directed funding to respond to the coronavirus emergency. This post discusses how some of the major pieces of funding could affect the state budget’s overall condition. In particular, we focus on how funding could help the state address some of the sources of a budget problem that could emerge as a result of the coronavirus emergency.
October 8, 2020 - This post describes the 2020-21 budget actions related to housing and homelessness issues.
April 28, 2020 - This post summarizes recent federal legislative and other actions to allocate funding to California and other states in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Figures in this post summarize—as comprehensively as was feasible—the amount of funding that we expect to flow to governments and other public entities in California from the federal government. We also describe the major COVID-19-related federal funding that we expect to flow directly to private Californian entities, such as individuals and businesses.
October 5, 2020 - Each year, our office publishes the California Spending Plan to summarize the annual state budget. This publication provides an overview of the 2020‑21 Budget Act, provides a short history of the notable events in the budget process, and then highlights major features of the budget approved by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. All figures in this publication reflect the administration’s estimates of actions taken through June 30, 2020, but we have updated the narrative to reflect actions taken later in the legislative session. In addition to this publication, we have released a series of issue‑specific posts providing more detail on various programmatic aspects of the budget.
May 12, 2021 - In this analysis we examine what is known about the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on local governments’ fiscal condition.
March 24, 2020 - In this post, we discuss federal assistance available to California and other states as a result of the President’s emergency and major disaster declarations.
January 10, 2021 - This report provides a brief summary and initial assessment of the proposed 2021-22 Governor’s Budget.
Correction 1/11/21: Totals for immediate and early action proposals have been corrected.
April 20, 2020 - This post summarizes recent legislative and administrative action to allocate state funds to respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency. These activities are ongoing. We plan to update this post periodically to reflect new information and actions.
August 15, 2020 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Hon. Senator Holly Mitchell, chair
May 8, 2020 - This report provides an update on the budget’s condition in light of the public health emergency and economic downturn associated with the coronavirus disease 2019. Our outlook presents two potential scenarios—a somewhat optimistic “U-shaped” recession and a somewhat pessimistic “L-shaped” recession—and assumes a baseline level of expenditures. Under these two scenarios, the state would have to address an $18 billion or $31 billion budget problem. The state’s newly emergent fiscal challenges are likely to extend well beyond the end of the public health crisis. Under both of our economic scenarios, budget deficits persist until at least 2023-24 with multiyear deficits summing to $64 billion in the U-shaped recession and $126 billion in the L-shaped recession.
March 23, 2020 - This post summarizes recent federal relief actions in the unemployment insurance program, discusses how these federal actions interact with current state programs, and highlight options the Legislature may want to pursue in responding to the ongoing crisis.
March 25, 2020 - This post describes key actions taken to increase Californians' access to food in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We focus on key actions taken by the state and federal government through April 10, 2020.
April 10, 2025 - In this report, we describe how the Legislature has delegated some of its core powers to allow the Governor to exercise emergency authorities during a state of emergency. Next, we assess the degree to which this is necessary to facilitate emergency response and whether there are adequate oversight mechanisms in place. Finally, we make various recommendations intended to allow the Legislature to exercise more of its core powers and ensure there is adequate oversight of the Governor during emergencies.
May 17, 2020 - On May 14, 2020, Governor Newsom presented a revised state budget proposal to the Legislature. In this post, we provide an overview of the overall budget condition under the May Revision estimates and proposals; the major actions the Governor took to close an estimated $54 billion budget gap; and give our initial comments on this budget package.
May 22, 2020 - Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 6 on Budget Process Oversight and Program Evaluation Hon. Philip Y. Ting, Chair