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 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 - The floods resulted in disaster declarations in 48 c ounties and forced more than 120,000 from their homes. After federal reimbursements, these floods led to nearly $ 200  m illion in state costs (over $ 300  m illion in today ’s dollars).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3769

The 2021-22 Budget: CalWORKs Fiscal Outlook

Dec 8, 2020 - Whereas the budget act assumed 2019 ‑ 20 c aseload would average about 412, 000 p er month, initial data suggest that number was closer to 367,000 (lower even than our office ’s more modest projection of 375,000, and lower also than the 2018 ‑ 19 c aseload of 387,000).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4306

The 2020-21 Budget: Overview of the California Spending Plan (Final Version)

Oct 5, 2020 - As a condition of receiving the funding, counties must show that they are in com pliance with state and federal public health requirements. Budget Provides $600   Million for Project Homekey and Related Services.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4263

Managing California’s Cash

Sep 3, 2019 - After a period of relative calm in the mid ‑ and late ‑1990s, California faced another series of years with acute budget problems following the dot ‑com bust and ensuing recession. Although the dot ‑com bust was relatively mild in economic terms, it hit the California budget —which is particularly reliant on the Bay Area ’s technology sector —especially hard.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4092

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

The 2018-19 Budget: California Spending Plan (Final Version)

Oct 2, 2018 - The budget also accounts for changes in average cost of c are based on families using different types of providers, serving children of different ages, or providing more average hours of care per day.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3870/4

The 2018-19 Budget: California Spending Plan (Final Version)

Oct 2, 2018 - Expands Availability of Hepatitis C Treatment. The spending plan provides $ 22  m illion in General Fund to expand the availability of potentially curative Hepatitis C prescription drugs to almost all Medi ‑Cal enrollees with the disease.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3870/6

The 2018-19 Budget: California Spending Plan (Final Version)

Oct 2, 2018 - The budget provides $ 20  m illion to support 2,000 additional resident undergraduate students in 2018 ‑ 19 c ompared to 2017 ‑18, with the goal of admitting at least one transfer student for every two freshman students.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3870/5