California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - The Internet obviously has been a transformative innovation for society and the economy, but early on, financial markets valued dot-com and Internet firms above what their revenue-generating capacity warranted at the time.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

How Have Past Stock Market Downturns Affected Income Tax Revenue? [EconTax Blog]

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/852

How Have Past Stock Market Downturns Affected Income Tax Revenue? [EconTax Blog]

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/852

^[PDF] Overview of California’s Master Plan for Higher Education

Instead, they are reports com- missioned by the Legislature and in some cases endorsed by individual legislators. • Many significant principles expressed by the Master Plan have been adopted in statute.
https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/education/2005/Master_Plan_Overview_022205.pdf

LAO 2004 Budget Analysis: Intersegmental: Higher Education Admissions and Enrollment

In this section, we have recommended a series of admissions-related steps the Legislature can take to preserve the Master Plan's com mitment to access with limited resources. In another section of this chapter, we examine the state's outreach programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/analysis_2004/education/highered_04_enrollment_anl04.htm

The 2026-27 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget [Publication Details]

Jan 12, 2026 - On January 9, 2026, Governor Newsom’s administration presented its proposed state budget to the California Legislature. In this report, we provide a high-level summary and our initial analysis of the Governor’s budget based on our preliminary review (as of January 10). Assembly Budget Handout (PDF) Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Handout (PDF)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5101

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

Jan 12, 2026 - (We consider a proposal to be “discretionary” if it provides more funding for a program or a service above what is already committed under current law or policy.) After 2026‑27, these proposals would add about $200 million in ongoing spending.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5101

The 2025-26 Budget: California Spending Plan Series [Publication Details]

Oct 16, 2025 - Each year, our office publishes California Spending Plan, a series of publications that summarize the annual state budget. The flagship report of this series, Overview of the Spending Plan, is presented here along with short online posts that focus on major areas and features of the 2025-26 budget package. As the posts become available, we will add them below.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5105

^[PDF] San Diego County Regional Airport Authority: Assessing Governmental Accountability

Ultimately, the policy question is: To what extent do residents of San Diego want political representatives to guide airport decision making as opposed to having these decisions made by staff? If the residents of San Diego want signifi cant in- volvement by political representatives, then the airport au- thority should provide compensation equivalent to at least part-time, professional work.
https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/localgov/2006/SD_Airport_Authority_111706.pdf

^[PDF] Reforming Davis-Dolwig: Funding Recreation in the State Water Project

Specify What Costs Are Eligible for Davis- Dolwig. As current law does not specify what costs are eligible to be funded by the state under Davis‑Dolwig, DWR has interpreted the act broadly, leading to what we view as the inclusion of inappropriate costs to the state under Davis‑ Dolwig.
https://lao.ca.gov/2009/rsrc/Reforming_Davis-Dolwig/Davis-Dolwig_030909.pdf