The 2026-27 Budget: Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education

Mar 25, 2026 - In 2025, BPPE incurred $10  million in costs associated with an employment lawsuit, consisting of a $4  million jury award to the plaintiff and $6  million in plaintiff ’s attorney fees. To cover these costs, DCA issued a $10  million loan to the BPPE Fund from the Bureau of Automotive Repair ’s High Polluter Repair or Removal Account in December 2025.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5169

The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 19, 2026 - On January 6, 2026, the federal administration announced that it would freeze $10  billion in grant funding going to five states due to concerns about improper use of federal funds. The freeze affected Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), CCDF, and the Social Services Block grant.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5168

The 2026-27 Budget: Re-Envisioning State Education Governance

Mar 18, 2026 - Introduction California operates the nation ’s largest public school system, comprising 937 school districts, 1,257 charter schools, and 58 county offices of education. This year, these local agencies will educate nearly 5.8  million students, employ around 700,000 teachers and staff, and spend nearly $150  billion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

The 2026-27 Budget: In-Home Supportive Services

Mar 18, 2026 - As shown in Figure  6 , the average monthly IHSS paid hours per case has increased by roughly 2  percent annually since 2014. The 2026 ‑27 budget projects the average monthly number of IHSS hours per case to increase from 125.1 hours in 2025 ‑26 to 127 hours in 2026 ‑27.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5166

The 2026-27 Budget: Contract to Achieve Operational Efficiencies

Mar 10, 2026 - The administration submitted its first February status report of the BCG contract on February 6, 2026. This report provided little information beyond what was already included in the contract. For example, the report did not specify what, if any, changes had been implemented to date or whether the state was on track to achieve the level of savings assumed in 2025-26 or the out-years resulting from the contract.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5156

How Have Past Stock Market Downturns Affected Income Tax Revenue? [EconTax Blog]

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/852

How Have Past Stock Market Downturns Affected Income Tax Revenue? [EconTax Blog]

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/852

The 2026-27 Budget: Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Program

Mar 3, 2026 - As shown in Figure  6, FMR takes up a significant portion or exceeds recipient grants in all counties. For an efficiency unit, FMRs are between 63  percent and 258  percent of the maximum SSI/SSP grant for individuals and between 42  percent and 157  percent of the maximum SSI/SSP grant for couples.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5148

The 2026-27 Budget: University of California

Feb 26, 2026 - As Figure  6 shows, UC core fund balances as a share of its annual core fund expenditures have been as low as 1.8  percent in 2008 ‑09 and as high as 23  percent in 2012 ‑13. UC reserves dropped notably at the onset of the Great Recession.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5143

The 2026-27 Budget: California State University

Feb 24, 2026 - The total marginal cost (state and student shares combined) of increasing resident undergraduate enrollment by 1  percent in 2026 ‑27 is $58  million. Provide more funding for student financial aid. Specifically, CSU plans to designate $67  million for this purpose.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5142