California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - Moreover, investors have been aggressive in taking on high levels of margin debt (borrowing to buy stocks), which has reached approximately three times the historical norm. These and other indicators are at levels previously only seen at times when the market was approaching a peak before entering a period of retrenchment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

Fiscal Outlook: Medi-Cal

Nov 15, 2017 - ACA Optional Expansion In 2014, California expanded Medi-Cal eligibility to childless adults with incomes up to 138  percent of the federal poverty level, a population known as the ACA optional expansion population.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3715

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

Oct 2, 2018 - Driver License and Identification (ID) Card Processing. The 2018 ‑ 19 b udget includes $ 351  m illion for DMV to process driver licenses and ID cards. This is an increase of $ 21  m illion from the 2017 ‑ 18 l evel due to workload related to the issuance of new driver licenses and ID cards that comply with federal standards —commonly referred to
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3870/10

The 2017-18 Budget: California Spending Plan

Oct 18, 2017 - Legislation enacted in 2013 required that, in addition to conforming state law to several Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations, NQIs eligible for full ‑scope Medi ‑Cal as a result of the ACA optional expansion transition from the state ‑only Medi ‑Cal program into subsidized coverage through Covered California.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3694/6

Fiscal Outlook: Medi-Cal

Nov 14, 2018 - ACA Optional Expansion and CHIP Sharing Ratios to Stabilize by 2021-22. The state share of cost for the ACA optional expansion and CHIP is scheduled to continue to increase beyond 2019-20 before stabilizing in subsequent years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3898

The 2017-18 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 16, 2016 - (We include Hastings College of the Law in our consolidated forecast of relatively small state programs, as the state provides less than $15  million General Fund annually for the college.) Assume Annual General –Purpose Base Increases Over Forecast Period.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3507

The 2026-27 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - As shown in Figure  1 , many signs of an overly exuberant stock market are present today: measures of whether stocks are “expensive ” are at historically high levels, investors are borrowing more to buy stocks, and households are more invested in the stock market than they have been in at least 70  years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5091

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

Jan 12, 2026 - Generates $5.6 Billion School and Community College Settle‑Up Obligation in 2025‑26. The State Constitution sets a minimum spending requirement for schools and community colleges. For 2025‑26, this requirement is up $6.9 billion under the administration’s estimates, but the Governor’s budget provides $5.6 billion less than this revised estimate.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5101

The 2019-20 Budget: California Spending Plan (Final Version)

Oct 17, 2019 - Implements Improvements to Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) REAL ID Workload and Operations. The budget includes $ 260  m illion from the Motor Vehicle Account for DMV to process driver licenses and ID cards that comply with federal standards —commonly referred to as “REAL IDs ” —and to implement various operational improvements.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4083

The 2016-17 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 18, 2015 - Lastly, we exclude Hastings College of the Law from our university forecast, as the state provides less than $15 million General Fund annually for the college. We combine Hastings College of the Law with other relatively small state programs and run one consolidated forecast for these programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3305