October 16, 2023 - This publication provides a preliminary overview of the 2023-24 Budget Act, gives a brief description of how the budget process unfolded, and then highlights major features of the budget.
January 30, 2024 - In this brief, we provide an overview and initial analysis of the Governor’s higher education budget plan.
October 12, 2022 - Each year, our office publishes the California Spending Plan to summarize the annual state budget. This publication provides an overview of the 2022-23 Budget Act, gives a brief description of how the budget process unfolded, and then highlights major features of the budget approved by the Legislature and signed by the Governor.
September 12, 2024 - The 2024‑25 budget package provides a total of $17.8 billion from various fund sources—the General Fund, a number of special funds, bond funds, and federal funds—for the departments overseen by the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) and California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). This amount represents about half of total 2023‑24 estimated expenditure levels. This significant year-to-year decrease is primarily due to a large amount of one-time funding—mostly from the General Fund—available for the departments within both agencies in 2023‑24, including large amounts of funds carried over from prior years. As discussed in this post, many departments continue to receive some one-time funding augmentations in 2024‑25, but at notably lower aggregate levels. Despite the year-to-year decline in funding, the 2024‑25 totals exceed the historical levels of funding that these agencies received prior to the state experiencing General Fund surpluses in recent years.
February 6, 2025 - In this brief, we provide an overview and initial analysis of the Governor’s higher education budget plan.
February 14, 2024 - This report describes the Governor’s proposed budget solutions within climate, resources, and environmental programs, and provides the Legislature with suggestions for how it might modify the spending plan to better reflect its priorities and prepare to address a potentially larger budget problem.
March 11, 2025 - This post contains assessments and recommendations related to two proposed budget augmentations: the College Corps program and a new Belonging Campaign.
September 10, 2024 - The budget package provides a total of $30.4 billion for transportation-related programs in 2024‑25, including for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), California State Transportation Agency, local streets and roads (shared revenues), California Highway Patrol (CHP), Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA). This total reflects a net decrease of $4.5 billion (13 percent) compared to estimated 2023‑24 expenditure levels.
February 28, 2024 - In this brief, we analyze the Governor’s budget proposals for the University of California (UC). We have sections focusing on UC’s core operations and enrollment. We also revisit recent UC one-time initiatives and capital projects the state had funded.
February 25, 2025 - This brief analyzes the state’s budget plan relating to CSU’s core operations and enrollment, as well as the Governor’s proposal to increase salaries for the Capital Fellows program.
October 16, 2023 - The 2023‑24 budget package provides a total of $19.2 billion from various fund sources—the General Fund, bond funds, a number of special funds, and federal funds—for programs administered by the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) and Environmental Protection Agency. This is a net decrease of $15.5 billion (45 percent) compared to 2022‑23 estimated levels. This change is primarily due to a large amount of one-time funding—mostly from the General Fund—provided to departments within both agencies in 2022‑23.
October 16, 2023 - The budget package provides a total of $33.2 billion for transportation-related programs in 2023-24, including for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), local streets and roads (shared revenues), California Highway Patrol (CHP), Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and High-Speed Rail Authority.
March 10, 2025 - This brief analyzes the Governor’s budget proposals for College of the Law, San Francisco (CLSF). In 2025‑26, CLSF would receive $101 million in total core funding, reflecting a $15 million (17 percent) increase from 2024‑25. Both of CLSF’s main sources of core funding would increase, with tuition revenue projected to increase $4.3 million (7.8 percent) and state General Fund proposed to increase $11 million (40 percent).
February 12, 2025 - In this brief, we assess the Governor’s cap-and-trade expenditure plan for 2025-26 and provide associated recommendations.