Snapshot of the California Economy: March 2021 [EconTax Blog]

May 11, 2021 - Over the last year, the state has experienced abrupt and dramatic swings in economic activity. While a variety of data is available to track developments in the state economy, drawing clear conclusions from these disparate data points can be difficult.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/651

California New Business Creation: April 2021 [EconTax Blog]

May 7, 2021 - The standard pattern within a year is for a surge of new business formation at the beginning, then gradual declines as the year goes on. This pattern was upended in 2020: the pandemic caused a big drop in the spring, followed by a surge as the economy began to recover.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/649

Impact of COVID-19 on Health Care Access

May 7, 2021 - While the number of hospital inpatient bed days was roughly unchanged between 2020 and 2019 (on net), physician and nonphysician encounters were down by around 10  percent year over year. As Figure  5 shows, physician and nonphysician encounters have gradually, but not fully, returned to 2019 levels by the last quarter of 2020.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4426

COVID-19: American Rescue Plan’s Major Health-Related Funding Provisions

May 6, 2021 - The administration projects $355  million General Fund in 2020 ‑21 and $406  million General Fund in 2021 ‑22 will be used for subsidies (this funding, respectively, funds the state subsidies for the 2021 and 2022 calendar years).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4425

Estimated Cost of Expanding Full-Scope Medi-Cal Coverage to All Otherwise-Eligible Californians Regardless of Immigration Status

May 5, 2021 - For example, over the last year during COVID-19, restricted-scope enrollment among undocumented immigrants has increased significantly. Were the Legislature to expand coverage, we project that much of the higher restricted-scope enrollment seen during the pandemic would apply to the new full-scope population and would continue for the most of calendar year 2022, after which enrollment would return to roughly pre-pandemic levels and trends.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4423

A Framework for Allocating Federal Recovery Funds

May 4, 2021 - Importantly, we note that there is no requirement for the state to allocate all of its recovery funds as part of this year ’s budget process. Under the ARP, the state has until the end of 2024 to expend the funding, which gives the Legislature some time to define its vision for how to use a portion of the funds to address long-standing challenges.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4422

Third Round of Federal Higher Education Relief Funding

May 3, 2021 - Institutions are to spend HEERF base funds within one calendar year from the date they receive their last award. Federal guidance indicates that institutions may also, under certain circumstances, request an extension of up to one additional year to spend the funds.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4421

March 2021 Jobs Report [EconTax Blog]

Apr 29, 2021 - The retail, professional/technical, and transport sectors also had significant gains, although only transport is above its level of a year ago.  
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/648

Overview of Federal Relief for K-12 Education and Child Care [Publication Details]

Apr 29, 2021 - Since March 2020, the federal government has passed three relief packages that assist K-12 schools and child care providers in their response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. This post provides a brief summary of how the three federal relief packages affect K-12 education and child care and describes how the state has used these federal funds, as of April 2021.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4419

Overview of Federal Relief for K-12 Education and Child Care

Apr 29, 2021 - The state has one year to commit the funding and until September 30, 2024 to expend funds. Provides Additional Funding for Special Education, Private Schools, Homeless Students, and Education Technology.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4419