California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - After the dot-com bust and the Great Recession, it took four and five years, respectively, for revenues to recover. Incorporating revenue risk into the budget now, therefore, reflects prudence, not pessimism.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

The 2024-25 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2024 - The 2024-25 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget $3,135 $4,677 BCH = Secretary for Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency; HHAPP = Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention Program; FHC = Family Homelessness Challenge Grants; BSCC  =  Board of State and Community Corrections; CalFire = California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection; CalRecycle = California Department of
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4825/1

The 2026-27 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - For California, the dot ‑com era —when stocks rose and then fell precipitously in response to widespread adoption of the internet —offers the most salient example. The internet has proven to be a transformative technology and, yet, the stock market ’s initial reaction was clearly overly exuberant.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5091

Building Reserves to Prepare for a Recession

Mar 7, 2018 - By most measures, the recession of the early 1990s was more severe than the dot ‑com bust in the early 2000s. For example, unemployment in California reached 9. 7  p ercent in mid ‑ to late ‑1992, but peaked at 6. 9  p ercent after the dot ‑com bust.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3769

The 2023-24 Budget: Overview of the Spending Plan (Final Version)

Oct 16, 2023 - If approved by the federal government, the tax is expected to generate revenu es of $8.2  billion in 2023 ‑24 ($32.1  billion through 2026 ‑27). After factoring in the portion of revenues used to help cover the cost of the tax on health insurance plans, the tax is projected to yield a net fiscal benefit to the state of $4.4  billion in 2023 ‑24 ($19.4  billion through 2026 ‑27).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4788

Whether or Not to Tap Reserves to Solve Estimated Budget Problem Emerges as Key Fiscal Decision Facing California’s Legislature

Apr 19, 2023 - Other downturns, such as the 2001 so-called dot-com recession, had severe fiscal implications while inflicting somewhat milder economic damage. The 2008 Great Recession had brutal effects on both the state ’s economy and budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4762

The 2018-19 May Revision: LAO Economic Outlook

May 12, 2018 - The typical PE ratio since 1990 is 21 (19 if the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s is excluded). Similar to the price-to-earnings ratio, the home price-to-rent ratio is used to gauge if home prices are in line with underlying demand for housing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3829

The 2023-24 Budget: Considering Inflation's Effects on State Programs

Nov 16, 2022 - As a result, the state will build fewer housing units, treat fewer acres of forest for wildfir es, and perform less maintenance of state roads and highways. In one particularly telling, although narrow, example, the California Department and Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) reported that one project appropriated in the 2020‑21 budget—a pest eradication capital outlay project—experienced a 25 percent increase in estimated cost.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4647

Rethinking California's Reserve Policy

Apr 10, 2025 - In March of 2004, on the heels of the dot ‑com bust, voters passed Proposition  58, which created the Budget Stabilization Account (BSA). In the 2006 ‑07 budget, the Legislature deposited $472  million into the BSA and in 2007 ‑08 deposited $1.5  billion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5028

The State Appropriations Limit

Apr 21, 2021 - The state ’s appropriations subject to the limit fell substantially during the dot ‑com bust in the early 2000s and again during the Great Recession due to the significant decline in state revenues during those downturns.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4416