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

Mar 18, 2026 - Considering Adding Legislative Appointees to the SBE. The Legislature could consider adding two legislative appointees to the SBE. These appointees could enable greater legislative oversight of the new governance system and ensure the SBE ’s policies are consistent with legislative intent.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

Volatility of the Personal Income Tax Base

Feb 8, 2017 - A measure of the year ‑to ‑year volatility of income and taxes: “average deviation ” (AD). The AD of major elements of California ’s PIT base, such as wages and capital gains. This will help illustrate what drives the volatility of the tax base.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3548

The 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Proposals

Feb 19, 2026 - Establishing a New Ongoing Categorial Program Disadvantages to Creating a New Ongoing Categorical Program. In 2013, the state created LCFF and eliminated dozens of programs that provided funding for restricted or targeted purposes, also known as categorical programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5131

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposition 98 Guarantee and K-12 Spending Plan

Feb 4, 2026 - The proposal effectively shifts that cost from this year to future budgets —helping address the current budget problem on a one ‑time basis, but adding to the large budget deficits the state is projecting over the next several years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5110

The 2025-26 Budget: Proposition 98 Guarantee and K-12 Spending Plan

Feb 13, 2025 - The Governor ’s plan has significant proposals in both categories but places more emphasis on flexible funding. This budgeting approach could allow districts to address their cost pressures and a few core state priorities without being overwhelmed by new requirements.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4963

The 2024-25 Budget: Proposition 98 and K-12 Education

Feb 15, 2024 - Increase in Share of Meals Served in the Paid Category. One reason school nutrition costs have been higher than expected is the change in the category of meal served. Figure 15 shows lunches served by category in 2018 ‑19 compared to 2022 ‑23.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4839

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2025 - Discretionary Proposals The Governor ’s budget includes three categories of discretionary proposals, which are those that are not already committed to under current law or policy. First, some proposals provide short ‑term budget savings that create more budget capacity.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

Increasing Transparency of County Office of Education Spending

Mar 14, 2024 - The state could consider soliciting input from COEs and other experts on alternative education or other relevant outcome metrics that could be added to the Dashboard that would be a better indication of performance at COE ‑run schools.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4883

The 2025-26 Budget: California State University

Feb 25, 2025 - Though the number of students shifted from self‑ to state‑supported courses is smaller in 2024‑25 compared to 2023‑24 (745 FTE students shifted in summer 2024 compared to 4,705 FTE students shifted the previous summer), the effect is still not adding new students but adding new state costs from shifting students formerly in self‑supported courses into state‑supported ones.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4989

The 2025-26 Budget: Transitional Kindergarten Multilingual Learner Screeners

Feb 26, 2025 - Under either approach, the Legislature may want to ensure that the level of funding provided is aligned with any service requirements added in statute. Subscribe | California State Legislature | Online Voter Registration | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Legislative Analyst's Office | The California Legislature's Nonpartisan Fiscal and Policy Advisor 925 L Street, Suite 1000 Sacramento, CA 95814 | (916) 445-4656
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4990