The 2026-27 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - Most of these gains come from the meteoric rise in the value of a handful of tech companies that investors believe will be major beneficiaries of recent advances in AI. These companies have made big bets on AI, spending hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers and offering extraordinary pay packages to recruit AI researchers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5091

The 2026-27 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 12, 2026 - That said, recent budgets have set the SFEU bet ween $3.5  billion and $4.5  billion, so the Governor ’s budget proposal to set the balance to $4.5  billion is generally in line with recent policy.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5101

California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - And most of this increase has come from skyrocketing share prices among a handful of firms associated with innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI). These firms have invested heavily in building out data centers and on extraordinary pay packages for their key employees.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

Rethinking California's Reserve Policy

Apr 10, 2025 - On one hand, its progressivity means that the highest tax rates apply to the parts of the state ’s income distribution that grow the fastest. But, on the other hand, that progressive rate structure results in more revenue volatility, which has clear drawbacks.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5028

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

Apr 19, 2023 - On the one hand, reserves offer an expedient solution to the problem. At $27  billion, the state ’s discretionary reserve balances are roughly equivalent to the size of the deficit as estimated in January.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4762

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

Jan 13, 2025 - There are a handful of differences in our estimates, but these changes are small enough on net that they do not substantively change our assessment of the budget condition. Specifically, the administration has higher revenue estimates than our office, but these are mostly offset by their higher spending estimates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

The 2017-18 Budget: California Spending Plan

Oct 18, 2017 - Special funds , on the other hand, are state accounts dedicated for specific purposes. A special fund is like a special account that some households use to dedicate income to pay certain expenses, like a mortgage payment or utility bill.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3694/13

The 2011-12 Budget: Overview of the May Revision [Publication Details]

May 19, 2011 - On the other hand, the Legislature has other options to address the reduced budget shortfall, including adoption of alternative tax proposals, additional program reductions, and selected fund transfers and internal borrowing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/2482

The 2016-17 Budget: California Spending Plan

Oct 5, 2016 - Special funds, on the other hand, are state accounts dedicated for specific purposes. A special fund is like a special checking accounts that some households use to dedicate income to pay certain expenses, for example a mortgage payment or utility bill.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3487/12

With New Deficits Looming, California Will Weigh its Options for Allocating a Large Revenue Windfall

Dec 1, 2020 - On one hand, revised estimates indicated that tax revenues would be insufficient to cover the state ’s commitments. On the other hand, preservation of key safety net programs, which assumed an increasingly mission-critical role given the unfolding public health and economic crises, had become more important.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4305