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

Managing California’s Cash

Sep 3, 2019 - A Framework to Evaluate Future Cash Loans The Legislature has authorized two loans from the state ’s cash resources in the past few years. While we are not aware of any plans for a future loan, given the high level of internal borrowable resources, a future proposal is possible.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4092

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - As shown in Figure  7, in 2022 and 2023, roughly 10  percent of workers made no more than $16 per hour —the current statewide minimum wage. By this measure, California ’s minimum wage is at the same level typically observed right after past minimum wage increases in the U.S.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/3

Fixing Unemployment Insurance

Dec 2, 2024 - While California ’s UI program provides lower weekly benefits relative to wage levels than almost every other state, the program tends to pay benefits for a slightly longer ‑than ‑average duration and to a larger ‑than ‑average caseload (see Figure  7 ).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4943

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

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - For our analysis, key strengths of the CPS include: Individual-level microdata are publicly available, enabling a high degree of customization. Responses to the wage, earnings, and hours questions are relatively precise.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/4

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - This includes $8.2  million ($7  million General Fund) in efficiency reductions and $2.8  million General Fund in vacant position reductions. Please see the “New and Ongoing Efforts to Achieve Efficiencies” section of this post for more information on these budget-wide reductions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081

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

Feb 23, 2026 - Department ‑Level Perspective. The administration appears to have approached this issue by trying to “work within CDTFA ’s budget. ” Viewed through this department ‑level lens, one could argue that spending General Fund on the Cannabis Tax Program makes sense.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5132

Overview of Major Impacts of H.R. 1 – One Big Beautiful Bill Act [Publication Details]

Aug 20, 2025 - Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 7 on Accountability and Oversight
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5067

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

Feb 19, 2026 - The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local governments when (1)  new state laws or regulations mandate that they implement a new program or higher level of service and (2)  the local government does not have offsetting revenues available to fully cover the associated costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5130