The 2026-27 Budget: CDTFA’s Cannabis and Tobacco Programs

Feb 23, 2026 - Cannabis and tobacco compliance present an ongoing policy challenge for the Legislature. Accordingly, we recommend that the Legislature approach the Governor ’s proposals not as one ‑time workload adjustments, but as components of a broader, more sustained effort to address these policy challenges.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5132

The 2026-27 Budget: State Mandate—Disclosure Requirements and Deferral of Property Taxation

Feb 19, 2026 - In discussions with our office, the administration indicated proposing a suspension due to the state ’s challenging budget situation. Under this proposal, Los Angeles County would not receive reimbursement for the required activities unless the mandate was funded (taken off suspension) in a future budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5130

Local Sales Tax Rebates in 2023-24

Sep 16, 2025 - The veto message described these agreements as “an important local tool that captures additional economic activity, particularly in rural and inland California cities that continue to face significant economic challenges like high unemployment rates. ” 2024 Law Requires Disclosure of Local Sales Tax Rebates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5074

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

Nov 16, 2022 - If persistent, lower salaries can make hiring and retaining employees challenging for state departments. Moreover, when a state department must compete with the private sector and/or local government for employees, these challenges can be particularly acute.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4647

Updating the California Necessities Index

Aug 14, 2025 - Future Changes Metropolitan Area Statistics Could Face Challenges. The BLS data collection process, which requires obtaining prices for a sample of goods bought by consumers across the country, makes it difficult to calculate reliable estimates for small categories of goods across many metropolitan areas.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5065

Options for Modifying the State Child Care Tax Credit

Apr 7, 2016 - We discuss some of these potential administrative challenges in the nearby box. Administrative Challenges Relatively Complex Approaches Increase Administrative Costs. Making the credit more complex —for example varying the credit based on the dependents ’ ages and/or the providers ’ compliance with developmental standards —would require the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) to set up entirely new administrative processes.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3417

Fixing Unemployment Insurance

Dec 2, 2024 - Comparing California ’s UI system to other states offers another perspective on these fiscal challenges. Relative to other states, California ’s UI system: Pays Relatively Low Benefits, Yet Has High Total Costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4943

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - The language also requires OES to provide the Legislature with two progress reports on the project —which has faced significant implementation challenges —on or before November 1, 2025 and March  1, 2026.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081/

Evaluating State Economic Stimulus Proposals

Feb 1, 2021 - Given the challenges of quantifying economic benefits, we recommend asking six key questions, summarized in Figure  2 , to make a more complete assessment of the merits of economic stimulus proposals.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4331

Managing California’s Cash

Sep 3, 2019 - For example, when the Treasurer challenged the constitutionality of the registered warrant law in the early 1930s, the California Supreme Court upheld it as a valid use of the Legislature ’s authority to appropriate state monies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4092